


A Thing for You

by littlelemonkey



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Canon Compliant Violence, Eventual Smut, F/F, Happy Ending, Slow Burn, calex - Freeform, living and dying for this ship, past cabenson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:47:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 39
Words: 84,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24321532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlelemonkey/pseuds/littlelemonkey
Summary: Casey comes back to SVU and ends up working together with Alex on a case. Very slow burn. Very slow. Much tropes. Includes discussion of cases which some readers may find upsetting, but nothing too graphic or out of the ordinary for the show.
Relationships: Alexandra Cabot/Casey Novak, Olivia Benson/Alexandra Cabot
Comments: 312
Kudos: 184





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I've been writing this for a while and I'm hoping to post a chapter every week :) please let me know what you think.

**1.**

Casey took a deep breath and smoothed down the non-existent creases in her jacket. She was back, now she just had to prove it to everyone else. Apparently the first person she was going to have to prove it to was Alex Cabot. Alex fucking Cabot. Stupidly high conviction rate, seemingly able to get away with anything in the court room, persuasive, sophisticated, goddam beautiful Alex Cabot. In all her time at SVU Casey wasn’t quite sure she’d stepped out of Cabot’s shadow, and now she’d been summoned to the woman’s office less than a week after she’d finally got her ADA job back.  
She caught sight of her own reflection in the door and took a moment to rearrange her hair before knocking, reassuring herself she was simply still getting used to what the new hair stylist at the salon had done to her locks for her ‘back-to-work’ look and not nervous in any way about the upcoming meeting.

“Come in Casey, I know you’ve been standing there for five minutes”, Casey winced at the sound of Cabot’s voice, embarrassed she’d been caught dawdling, her confident front already beginning to slip. Nevertheless, she obeyed the instruction and let herself into the familiar room.

“So you remember how to open the door?” Alex’s tone was light and with a small smile.

“It was my office for five years Cabot”, Casey shot back, “they’ve put me in one down the hall that’s about half the size now.” Casey turned slowly taking in the familiar walls, letting her gaze trail along the oddly comforting lines of books and desk, managing quite successfully to avoid having to stare at Alex.

“At least they’re not making us share an office”,

“I think I might still have more space if I had to share this one with you.” Casey straightened from her momentary nostalgia, she stepped forward to lean against the back of one of the chairs and crossed her arms, smoothly transitioning into business mode.

“Why did you want to see me?”

“It’s about a case”,

“Obviously”,

“I want you to second chair for me.” Casey’s face fell.

“What?”

“Casey…”

“No”. Casey interrupted “what is this? You don’t trust me? I’ve got my licence back Alex, and the DA saw fit to rehire me, I am good at this job, no screw that I’m great at this job. You don’t need to babysit me!”

“I’m not asking because I don’t trust you, I’m asking because I do”, Alex continued, remaining un-phased by Casey’s impassioned self-defence. Caught out by the unexpected reply Casey paused, taking a deep breath as she realised she had been leaning over the desk, and closer to Alex, in her ire. She attributed the growing heat in her cheeks to her frustration that she had had to defend her professional reputation yet again:

“That makes no sense”,

“Casey, please sit down. Let me explain this to you.” Despite her bluster Casey realised she couldn’t say no to Alex. Besides, she needed to calm down if she wanted to keep the job she’d just got back. She carefully sat down in the chair closest to the desk, taking a moment to brush her skirt out and regroup.

“It’s this case”, continued Alex sitting back with a small sigh, “it’s sensitive, and it’s difficult. I need someone I can trust, and you’re the best prosecutor we’ve got. I mean, I think we’d make a good team.” She chanced a small smile as she looked Casey in the eyes, meaning the compliment to be sincere but was met with a look of confusion from Casey.

“What’s so serious you need two lead prosecutors on it?”

“The case involves a judge’s son, and his friends.” Alex leant forward once more and clasped her hands lightly.

“We’ve dealt with things like that before”,

“Did I mention the friends have parents who are high-ranking cops and prosecutors?”

“How has this been kept under wraps so far?”

“Cragen’s got the detectives treading very lightly, but they’re gonna have to ruffle some feathers soon and we need to be ready when they do.”

“What did these kids even do?”

“You remember the four year old girl they pulled out of the river last week?”

“They did that?”

“Yeah, the sick little bastards did that.” Alex swivelled around in her chair and stood, her anger at the senselessness of the case was clear. She continued to pace slightly with Casey’s full attention following her.

“They think they’re untouchable. Liv and Elliot have found a whole string of allegations and offences that have just been made to go away. Including a particularly nasty rape where the victim recanted following an online hate campaign. We also have evidence that the parents might have known what happened, making them accessories after the fact. In any case, they’ve given false alibis.” She sighed and sat back down, picking up her pen whilst giving Casey a moment to process what she’d said.  
Casey was silent for a moment, letting the weight of the case settle on her. She must be crazy, coming back to this job. But someone had to do it, and she was good at it.

“Ok”,

“Ok what?”

“Ok, I’ll second chair”

“Thank you. I’m sorry your first case back has to be something so awful and so high profile. I don’t need to remind you to keep this as quiet as possible, even in the office we can’t be sure who we can trust.” Suddenly it dawned on Casey, Alex was protecting her. A political case like this was not the best place to rebuild a reputation after suspension, but by putting her second chair Alex was giving her a chance to prove herself whilst making sure she wouldn’t bear the consequences of rocking the boat. The two women looked at each other for a moment, neither quite sure what to say.

“I’ve got some paperwork to finish up on”, Casey said at last, awkwardly getting up from the chair. “Then I’ll head down to the squad room and get caught up on the case. I can come back later and let you know what’s happened?”

“That would be great, I’m drowning in paperwork from the Hanley case and I wasn’t sure I’d have time to get down.”

“Great. I’ll bring coffee.” It was an offhand comment, maybe too familiar, but Casey wanted to do something by way of apology for her outburst.

“I’ll email you the details of my order.” Alex smirked, “If you bring me precinct coffee I will be forced to take you off this case.”  
Casey laughed genuinely, drawing another more confident smile from Alex.

“You know I almost missed the taste of it?” Casey quipped back

“That’s actually worrying Novak. Now get out of here.” Alex waved in mock dismissal as she tiredly rubbed at her temple. They shared a final smile, and as Casey turned and left the room she could’ve sworn she felt Alex’s eyes watching her as she went.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to post the second chapter early :)

**2.**

When she arrived at the precinct Casey didn’t loiter at the squad room door. Squaring her shoulders and with a small shake of her head she pushed it open and strode in all brazen confidence. Her heels clicked as she moved across the room, drawing the attention of the nearby detectives.

“Casey!” said Elliot, getting up from his desk with a smile and lumbering towards her, “it’s good to see you back.” He put his hand on her should and gave it a gentle squeeze. Casey returned his smile and set her briefcase on the edge of his desk, avoiding the precarious stacks of paper and mugs of stale coffee that littered its surface. Casey glanced up and noticed Liv watching them uncertainly,

“What are you doing here?” Liv asked, sitting back in her chair, keeping her distance.

Casey tried to remain expressionless, the sudden hostility was a little unexpected. Maybe it had something to do with the dynamics of both her and Alex being back in the DA’s office, or maybe Liv was just having a bad day.

“I need an update on the case”, she said simply, turning to face Liv fully.

“What case?” Liv was still regarding her with suspicion, she remained sat back, her arms crossed defensively and an eyebrow raised in an ever-so-slight challenge. Casey recognised the look but her confusion deepened of being on the receiving end of it. Maybe she had more to prove than she’d originally thought.

“ _The_ case” she retorted, “the four year old girl who was pulled out of the Hudson” Casey tried to keep her voice steady at the thought of what had happened, it didn’t help that Liv was interrogating her.

“I thought Alex was handling that case?”

“She is, when we go to trial I’m sitting second chair.”

“Do I need to talk to her?” Elliot chimed in whilst sitting down and carefully observing their interaction, his voice heavy with concern, “I mean, you’ve got your job back and you’re perfectly capable…”

“Thanks Elliot, but this is the best way. I’ve already talked with Alex about it, it’s gonna take both of us to make sure these guys are put away.” Casey looked both of the detectives in the eyes as she spoke. Elliot shrugged, apparently reassured by Casey’s certainty.

“Guess we’d better fill you in then”, he said, he motioned for Casey to follow him to the evidence board that was set up to the side of the squad room. Casey took the chance to scan the place properly, it hadn’t changed too much since she’d been away.The same old tired walls filled with the same tired faces hurrying around them. She found herself wondering how Alex had felt, being back here for the first time since getting out of witness protection, how she’d felt about seeing Liv again. She must’ve been worried about it, to stay away for so long even after she was back in New York.

“Hey Casey!” her thoughts were interrupted by Fin’s voice calling across the squad room, “what’re you doing back?” his smile was genuine as he walked towards her, his distinctive swagger in full force,“we’ve got ourselves one hell of a case here”, he said more quietly after he shook her hand.

“I was just filling her in. What did the doorman have to say?” Elliot asked settling himself on the corner of a desk. Fin took a small notebook out of his pocket and flicked through it till he found the page he wanted.,

“He says they were home all night, says Stirling and Hunter arrived at the Cartelli apartment about 7pm and none of them left until 11 the next morning.” Fin shrugged as he looked at the group.

“Well the lab says weather patterns suggest Janie Doe was in the river by 1am”, Olivia said, moving towards the evidence board and gazing at the maps and charts that were pinned to it.

“Suggest?” asked Casey, raising an eyebrow “as in they can’t be sure?” She tried to read what was going on with Liv and drew closer, but the detective avoided her gaze, drawing Casery’s attention instead to the map in front of them.

“As in it’s not an exact science, but the chances that they’re wrong are pretty low. Especially as it matches what Warner said about how long the body was submerged.” Olivia explained, eyes still scanning the evidence board,

“Damn”, said Casey “that’s not exactly reasonable doubt”. She smiled slightly, trying to lighten the atmosphere

“Sorry counsellor, I don’t think it’s going to be that easy for you” Olivia snapped back,. She turned away from the board but still refused to look at Casey..

“I’m not so sure about this alibi”, said Elliott after a beat, taken aback by the prickliness of his partner with the ADA, he quickly realised he needed to do something to disperse the rising tension.

“I’m never sure about an alibi”, drawled Fin, tapping his notebook against his open hand.

“No something’s off about this one”, Elliot lifted his arm and rubbed the back of his head, “I mean when was the last time you heard about three nineteen year old guys having a sleepover at mommy and daddy’s house?”

“It is a bit freaky, but it’s harder to get a better alibi than a cop, ‘specially when it’s backed up by other people in the building”, Fin reasoned. Elliot threw his head back with a sigh,

“We know they did this. That email was way too detailed and way to similar to the case to be a coincidence.”

“What email? No one has filled me in yet”, Casey interrupted with a cross of her arms, giving each detective a stern look.

“Alec Cartelli emailed a supposed work of fiction to the other two that matches almost exactly what happened to Janie Doe. Same MO on the abduction, three young guys, same disgusting things done to the kid, same dumpsite…” Fin trailed off, “it was leaked on a chatroom three days after we found her, Cartelli’s laptop is in evidence but so far we haven’t found any evidence of a hack”. Casey gave a small shake of the head,

“A good lawyer will explain that away in a second… they’ll say he shared it somewhere else or his emails were hacked by the _real_ killers prior to the crime”, she sighed in frustration and looked back to the evidence board once more, “do you have anything else?”

“We’re trying our best Casey”, said Liv, turning to look her in the eye for the first time, “these kids have family connections, and no one wants to talk. Add to that the complete lack of DNA evidence because the body was dumped in the river and we’re drawing blanks.”

“There was no DNA, but was there any other forensic evidence?”

“Warner found dark wool fibres in in her windpipe, if we had a jacket we could match it. There was also a tiny shred of latex caught in her teeth.”

“But she didn’t die by suffocation right?”

“No, Warner thinks something was held over her face to keep her quiet during the assault. In the end she bled out.” Liv looked down momentarily, “We don’t have the knife”, she added quietly. Casey could see the pain in Liv’s eyes. This really was a horrific case, she wondered how the detectives had been doing this so long without just snapping…

“We don’t have enough for a warrant yet”, she conceded, “I’m not even sure what you’d be looking for.”

“Warner’s trying to identify the type of blade used, if it’s specific enough we might be able to trace where it was sold, if the owner can identify one of the boys that would be enough right?” Liv asked.

“More than enough”, Casey nodded at her trying to be supportive, Liv’s features had begun to soften, the familiar negotiations surrounding search warrants and evidence seeming to put her more at ease with Casey. Elliot looked from one to the other, trying to read the situation. The silence was broken by the click of a door opening,

“Good to see you back counsellor”, Cragen suddenly appeared from his office, looking concerned. He quickly turned to address the circle of people gathered around the evidence board. “Have we got anything else tying these kids to the murder?”

“Nothing yet, and their alibi apparently checks out”, said Fin

“Apparently?” asked Cragen. Elliot repeated his earlier thoughts.

“You’re right, something does sound off about it, but we’re going to have to tread carefully.” The experienced Captain rocked gently on his heels, his hands tucked into his pockets as he considered the group in front of him.

“ I do not want to upset these kids’ families, it’s already been suggested to me that we look for other suspects.” He stressed the last two words in a way that made their meaning obvious: these boys should be considered off-limits.

“Someone wants us to make this go away”, said Elliot thoughtfully, Casey shook her head,

“That will be even more difficult to prove.”

“I just want everyone to be careful”, stressed Cragen, lifting a hand to quickly point at each of them in turn, “no talking to anyone outside this team about this. You talk to each other, to me, to Warner and the techs and Alex and Casey and _no one_ else. Especially not the press, anyone talks to the press and I will have your badge. Is that clear?” His eyes flicked authoritatively between the detectives until they all nodded, “good” he finished, “now get back to work on this. Fin, go get me a background on the neighbors and that doorman that claim they saw the boys at the Cartelli apartment. I want to know if anyone might have leverage over them. Liv and Elliot, go over their statements again, anything that looks like it doesn’t match up pull it up.”

“We’re on it Captain”, said Liv as they all began to move towards their desks, shuffling papers and moving old coffee cups. Coffee. Casey had promised Alex an update and coffee. As she gathered her things from Elliot’s desk she took the chance to step towards Liv who was already flicking through statements, Casey cleared her throat quietly, hoping to not make too much of a scene. Liv looked up at her,

“Everything ok?”

“Yeah I just…” Casey paused, this was probably a terrible idea, “what’s Alex’s favourite coffee place?” Liv raised an eyebrow again and looked at her with an amused smirk, Casey was struck at the similarity to her arrival, but for some reason she felt more on the spot this time round.

“Why do you want to know?”

Casey shifted uncomfortably,

“I kind of wanted to do something nice to make up for yelling at her earlier”,

“You yelled at her?” Liv scoffed, her amusement growing. Casey felt herself blushing and glanced away,

“Yeah it was a misunderstanding”, she mumbled. Liv gave a small chuckle and shook her head gently, she grabbed a scrap of paper and scribbled down the name and address of a coffee shop,

“You need her order too? Or do you already know that?” Liv teased,

“What is this, an interrogation? She emailed me it actually”,

“Oh so you _arranged_ to have coffee with her?” Casey felt her blush deepen, asking the detective definitely felt like a mistake.

“No I arranged to report back on the case”, raising her chin slightly she hoped she sounded convincing as she took the paper from the desk and tucked it in her jacket pocket.

“Well enjoy”, smirked Liv. Casey shot her a warning look and hurried out as fast as she could, heels clicking across the floor.

Alex had better appreciate this coffee.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly longer chapter for you on this fine Friday!

**3.**

“You had to go out of your way to get coffee from this place”, Alex eyed Casey suspiciously from behind her desk, a smirk hovering on her lips as she ran her finger over the lid of the paper cup, enjoying the warm comforting smell of her favourite blend. Casey blushed and glanced away, shifting from foot to foot and fiddling with the cardboard holder.

“Yeah well I felt like I should apologise for my outburst earlier”, she looked up and her gaze locked with Alex’s. She was suddenly aware of the heat of the coffee cup where the holder had slipped so she placed it on the edge of the desk and sat down in the chair opposite Alex. 

“Maybe I shouldn’t have led with asking you to second chair”, Alex said with a small laugh. She took the lid off the coffee and swirled the cup, steam rose up and collected on her glasses, each took a moment to enjoy their coffee. The steam had just dissipated when Alex spoke again, “but I’m glad I did”. She pursed her lips and blew gently on the coffee, Casey watched her closely. Alex’s eyes flicked back up from the coffee and she smiled as she caught Casey watching her. Realising she’d been staring, Casey started and looked down at her own drink, lifting the cup to her lips and taking a small sip.

“What do you mean?” she asked, shifting in her seat. Alex leaned back in her chair and found Casey’s eyes again,

“Well there was a rumour before you came back that the censure might have taken some of the fire out of you. I’m glad to see it’s not true.” Casey felt the heat rising in her cheeks once more and hoped it was just the coffee. Alex took pity on her and changed the subject,

“How did you know my favourite coffee shop anyway?”

“Oh I just asked Liv”, said Casey, with a casual wave of her hand. She was grateful that Alex hadn’t pushed her to talk about her time away, but the relief was short lived as she saw Alex’s face fall. “But maybe I shouldn’t have?” she ventured tentatively.

“No, no it’s ok”, Alex gave a forced smile and looked back down at her coffee, she paused to take a sip, “all that was a lifetime ago anyway.” She shrugged her shoulders lightly and leaned back, not quite looking at Casey as an awkward silence hung between them for a moment. Both women realised they had strayed into territory the other wasn’t entirely comfortable discussing and searched for how to move forward.

“So what’s the update on the case?” Alex asked finally, sitting up straighter once more and looking at Casey as she settled herself into the chair on the far side of her old desk,

“Not much of one I’m afraid”, Casey shrugged, “the alibi holds up, although it does sound a little weird. There’s not a lot of forensics to go on, but the Cartelli kid’s laptop is in evidence, techs are still going over it. Everything would be easier if we had an ID.”

“Warner is still working on it”, said Alex, “you saw the photos, the state of her face… hopefully we’ll get a hit on the familial DNA.” Both women fell quiet once more as the contemplated what they’d seen, both were startled when Alex’s phone ringing. She quickly reached across to pick it up,

“Cabot”

“Hey Alex, it’s Liv”,

“What do you need?”

Casey was trying to focus on her coffee but she couldn’t resist scanning Alex’s face for a reaction when she heard who was on the other end of the phone. Alex was nodding her head, listening to what Liv had to say. She glanced back in Casey’s direction,

“Ok we’ll be right over, although Casey’s only just got back to the office”, she smirked, “no she didn’t get lost, she just has excellent taste in coffee.” Her eyes didn’t leave Casey’s as she spoke, still smiling she listened to Liv’s parting words and then hung up the phone, “we’re needed back at the precinct. Apparently Warner has information that might lead to an ID, but it’s sensitive.”

“Too sensitive to share over the phone?” Casey drained the end of her still slightly too hot coffee as she stood. Alex was already up and swinging her blazer on, Casey caught herself admiring the cut of the other ADA’s suit as it settled on her shoulders, convincing herself it must have been the flattering style.

“Seems so, you ready then Novak?” Alex’s eyebrow rose again with the question as she viewed Casey stood there empty coffee cup still in hand, “you still remember how the door works right?”

***

Once back at the precinct, they found things pretty much as Casey had left them. Warner was talking to Liv and Elliot over by the evidence board. The two ADAs strode towards them,

“So what’ve you got for us?” led Alex, her arms folded as she scanned the evidence board for anything new. Casey stayed a little way behind her, perching on the corner of a desk.

“I got a hit on the familial DNA”, said Warner,

“A parent?” asked Casey

“I’m afraid not, the connection is more distant than that, probably an uncle or a cousin. The name on file is a Jorge Rivas, picked up for a misdemeanour three years ago and deported once they realised he was undocumented.”

“Maybe Janie Doe is undocumented too?” Alex speculated, Warner shook her head,

“It’s possible, but strontium analysis of her teeth and bones show she’s lived here most, if not all, of her life.” Alex furrowed her brow and sighed,

“How’s the forensic artist getting on with the facial reconstruction? If we can get her photo out to the media…”

“I don’t think that’s the best idea”, Liv interrupted, drawing a surprised look from Alex who turned towards her. “I’m just saying that the less attention we have on this case right now, the better. Once it gets out who the suspects are this whole thing will be a media circus”, she said defensively, mirroring Alex’s crossed arm posture as she leaned against the wall to face her fully.

“The case will be almost impossible to prosecute without an ID, we’re low on evidence as it is.” Alex shot back,

“Is that what you told her?” Liv turned towards Casey accusingly,

“Does it matter? It’s true, apart from that email we have almost nothing to go on”, replied Casey, confused as to why she was in the firing line again, she thought she and Liv had parted on better terms earlier. She took a deep breath, “Janie Doe might be here legally, but that doesn’t mean the rest of her family are. The parents could have other kids who weren’t born here, if they’re scared of being deported that could explain why they haven’t reported her missing.” Liv reluctantly gave a slow nod,

“You’re probably right”, she conceded, “that would explain why there were no signs of abuse prior to her abduction. Her parents loved her but they couldn’t risk their other kids.” Her attention was drawn by the squeak of the marker as Elliot scrawled this latest theory on the evidence board.

“If her family are scared of ICE it will be that much harder to get an ID”, he chimed in turning to the room as he capped the pen, “is there anything you two can do to offer them legal protection?” Alex nodded,

“If they give us information that helps the case and agree to testify if we need them, then we can make sure they’re allowed to stay.”

“It might help us get an ID actually”, Casey added,

“How?” asked Alex

“Whilst I was” Casey paused and swallowed lightly as she searched for the right words “… away…” she continued hesitantly, picking at the corner of the desk, “I did some volunteering at an outreach shelter for undocumented immigrants, she looked up at the various curious looks that were being directed her way. “Once we have the reconstruction I could make sure it gets circulated.” Alex in particular was looking at her with a strange look in her eyes,

“I didn’t know you’d done that”,

“You didn’t ask”, Casey smiled.

For a moment a stillness hovered over the room. Then Elliot cleared his throat,

“How long will the reconstruction take Doc?”

Warner turned tiredly to face him, “Maybe another day or so, there wasn’t much left to…” She was interrupted by the door of Cragen’s office flying open.

“Has anyone seen the laptop?” he demanded, pacing frantically across the squad room. “Fin just tried to check it out of evidence, but apparently it was never checked in.” He reached the startled group and continued without pause,

“ I called the techs, they don’t have it, apparently they dropped it off here yesterday and haven’t seen it since.” Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

“It has to be here somewhere Captain, it can’t just have disappeared”, said Elliot

“That doesn’t matter so much given that you’ve wrecked chain of custody”, Alex struggled to keep her voice on a level, “so now we have zero usable evidence. How could you be so stupid?”

“Hey! It must still be here, it’s not like anyone would just walk out with evidence.” Olivia protested. Casey closed her eyes and took a deep breath, this was not how her first case back was supposed to go.

“Everyone is going to stop what they’re doing right now and search this room for that laptop” said Cragen, his voice serious, “let’s go.”

After an hour of fruitless searching, tempers were running very high. Cragen kept checking his watch, Elliot was essentially throwing things around the room. Liv and Alex had barely spoken to each other since the argument earlier. Casey watched the blonde ADA closely, there was something adorable about her furrowed brow and the way she kept pushing her glasses back up her face; Alex was huffing in frustration, her hair slightly tousled from the unexpected flurry of activity and stress.

“I have somewhere to be”, announced Cragen suddenly, shrugging on his jacket and heading towards the door. The others traded concerned looks behind his back,

“Everything ok there Captain?” asked Elliot,

“Yeah fine”, said Cragen over his shoulder, not stopping to respond properly as he opened the door and strode out of the room.

“Well that was weird” remarked Olivia, collapsing into a chair with a sigh.

“The laptop is clearly not here” Alex said, knitting her brow as she struggled to hide her frustration, “you need to find out the name of everyone who has been in and out of this room since it came in.”

“I don’t remember seeing anyone out of the ordinary”, retorted Liv sharply as she attempted to clear the haphazard piles of paperwork on her desk, “the only person who hasn’t been here for a while is Casey.” Everyone stilled as the implications of Liv’s words settled over the group.

“Oh come on Liv,” Alex’s voice cut across everyone, “ you know Casey didn’t do this” she said rising to her colleague’s defence, with a stern look through her glasses at the apparently disgruntled detective. Looking round the squad room to give everyone a moment to calm down Alex ran through a mental checklist of everything they’d checked so far “hey,is it the usual guy on the door?”

Liv seemed irked by the change in topic, “No he’s on vacation, lucky guy won a three week Caribbean cruise. Lainey’s come back to cover for him. Anyone without a swipe card would’ve had to sign in with her.”

“Is anyone else worried about the Captain?” Elliot was still watching the door that Cragen had walked out of, “I’m gonna see if I can catch him, check he’s ok.” He gathered his things and hurried from the room. Alex looked at Olivia collapsed in the chair, then at Casey who had sat back down on the corner of the desk and was rubbing her temple.

“There’s nothing more we can do tonight”, she said finally, crossing her arms, “Casey,” the redhead opened her eyes to look at Alex, “ we should get back to the office, get working on that paperwork to stop ICE intimidating our witnesses.” Alex turned once more to the SVU detective as she sat defeatedly in her chair: “Be sure to let me know if there’s anyone suspicious on that sign-in sheet, Liv.” The detective shot a hard look towards Casey,

“Sure thing counsellor”, she said, still glaring at Casey. Casey did her best to ignore the look and grabbed her briefcase, fixing her eyes firmly on Alex’s back as they left the room.

*******

“So what did you do to upset Liv?” Alex asked as she and Casey walked back towards their offices. Casey pulled her jacket tighter around her to avoid looking at Alex,

“I honestly don’t know”, she replied, “it hasn’t been like this since I first joined SVU.”

“And why was she mad at you then?” they’d reached the door of the office, Alex fumbled around in her bag for her key card. When she found it she didn’t swipe it right away, instead she leaned against the door and studied Casey’s face. Casey tried to look anywhere but Alex. “Casey?”

“I didn’t know why for a long time”, Casey began, not quite sure how to explain the whole thing to Alex, “at first I thought maybe I was bad at my job…”

“I’m sure it wasn’t that”, Alex smiled at her encouragingly, “Special Victims can take some time getting used to, but your stats were good from the start.” Surprised that Alex had been checking her stats, Casey looked back towards the blonde,

“Thanks Cabot, but I do know how good my own stats are”, she said, a mischievous glint in her eyes. Alex gave a genuine chuckle and finally swiped her card.

“After you”, she said, gesturing exaggeratedly with her arm. Casey responded with a roll of her eyes and a half smile as she brushed past Alex and headed towards the elevator.

“So why was she mad at you?” asked Alex, falling into step beside her.

“Honestly?” Casey stopped to look Alex in the eye, “she was mad at me because I wasn’t you.” Alex took a moment to let the words sink in.

“Casey, I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be, really Alex, yours were always going to be big shoes to fill.” Casey smiled and pushed the button to call the elevator.

“It looks like you did a pretty good job trying to fill them… I mean it was always going to be impossible to match my conviction rates…”

“I beat your conviction rates!” Casey’s protest was cut off by the noise of the elevator arriving.

“Well we’d better get started on that paperwork” said Alex as she stepped into the elevator. Casey couldn’t tell if there was a gleam in Alex’s eye or if it was just the light reflecting in her glasses, but the mischievous smirk on her face confirmed that she had heard her.


	4. Chapter 4

**4.**

The next few days passed in a blur as the team worked to build the case; the forensic artist finished the sketch and Casey made sure it was distributed to where it needed to be. Within twenty-four hours they finally had an I.D. and could put a name to the girl in the morgue: Amelia Santos. From the moment her parents came forward Casey had been buried in paperwork and phone calls, trying to keep ICE at bay. She had been crammed behind her desk with little time to eat or sleep. It was a relief in some ways, being able to avoid the precinct where suspicions were still running high over the missing laptop; she was still reeling from Liv’s accusation; she kept replaying it in her head, thinking about how Alex had defended her… She had to admit she was at a loss as to why the detective was being so hostile, as well as why Cabot seemed to have so much faith in her following her censure. Before she could get lost in her thoughts of the blonde and ponder her motivations Casey’s phone called her focus back on the rapidly developing case.

About three days since they’d got the I.D things seemed like they were starting to calm down. ICE had backed off and the detectives were making headway on the case as they found links between Amelia and a volunteering project the three boys were involved in the previous summer. Casey was finishing up some routine paperwork when she heard a familiar voice,

“Novak”, she looked up to see Alex leaning nonchalantly in the doorway of her office, already looking more at home there than Casey did.

“Cabot.” Casey replied, “ever heard of knocking?” She had meant it to come off as sarcastic but she was having trouble hiding a smile. Alex shrugged,

“I need to talk to you”, not waiting for an invitation she stepped into the office and closed the door gently behind her. Casey couldn’t help but notice the other woman’s long legs as she strode towards the desk and perched on the corner. Casey awkwardly tried to shuffle papers and files to give her more room and unconsciously shifted her chair back a bit.

“What’s up?” she asked, trying to act as if this was a normal occurrence, although Alex was so close Casey caught the faint smell of her perfume. Alex leaned closer and lowered her voice,

“Someone is trying to sabotage this case”,

“I’m not sure that’s news”, Casey said slowly, fiddling nervously with her pen. She held Alex’s gaze and tried to focus on the conversation, but her mind kept drifting to how remarkably blue the other woman’s eyes were.

“I know you know about the laptop going missing”, Alex was saying “but Liv just came to see me…” That got Casey’s attention,

“She’s not accusing me again?” she interrupted, quickly defensive,

“No not at all”, said Alex with a small shrug, “I don’t think she really thought it was you, everyone’s just so on edge and it’s weird for her seeing us working together.” Casey wasn’t sure what she meant, but let it go for now. Alex glanced over her shoulder towards the closed door and lowered her voice again,

“She came to see me because she’s pretty sure she’s being followed.” Casey took a minute to process, absent-mindedly tapping the end of her pen against her lip,

“Does she have any idea by who?”

“What?” Alex asked

“Does she have any idea who’s following her?”, Casey repeated, wondering what thought had come and distracted Alex from this very serious conversation.

“Oh. No, no idea at all”,

“Do you think it’s connected to the laptop?”

“Probably”, Alex let out a smile sigh and glanced over her shoulder again. “It has to be someone with access to the squad room, everyone on the visitor list that day checked out.”

“So It has to be a cop right? I mean who else could have been following Liv and not been caught yet?”

Alex sighed again, her shoulders drooping slightly as the weight of the implications settled on her.“You’re probably right, but I really hope you’re wrong. I hate not knowing who we can trust.” Silence fell as they acknowledged the gravity of the situation.

“We’ll have to be careful when we’re talking about this”, said Casey finally, “I swear the walls have ears in this place.”

“They certainly do for gossip”, said Alex, with a small tilt of her head and something that sounded like a bitter chuckle.

“That’s why I don’t date anyone remotely connected to this building.” In truth Casey hadn’t dated anyone at all in years, a few casual hook-ups here and there but she found she mostly preferred her own company, besides it wasn’t as if she had a life outside of this place… Alex was looking at her again, this time her eyebrow raised inquisitively,

“Do you even have time to meet anyone who isn’t connected to work?” she asked, as though she’d read Casey’s mind,

“Not really”, said Casey, softening the statement with a laugh,

“Not even whilst you were away?” Alex seemed to subconsciously lean closer, not letting the subject drop just yet,

“No”, said Casey quietly, curling into herself a little, she flicked her eyes to Alex’s quickly before looking away: “I was kind of depressing to be around.” Alex was surprised by the admission and leaned backwards slightly,

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” the apology was flustered and Casey saw Alex raising a hand as if to reach out to her, but Alex then paused to take a breath, she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear instead. “I can’t imagine you being depressing to be around”, she said. It was Casey’s turn to raise an eyebrow, “I just mean, you were still out there helping people, fighting for justice. The way you do that, the fire in you, it’s really…” she looked away from Casey as she twirled her hand as searched for the right word, “compelling”.

“Compelling?” a small laugh escaped Casey’s lips,

“Don’t laugh I’m being nice!” Alex feigned offence, lurching back in faux indignation so fast she almost slipped off the desk, causing Casey to laugh more,

“That wouldn’t have happened if you sat on the chair like a normal person”, she said smugly. Alex was blushing slightly, her hair and suit jacket slightly dishevelled, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she laughed while recovering from the shock. Casey had never imagined Alex had this side to her, and she found she liked it, it was less intimidating and much more human. 

“Chairs are overrated”, Alex retorted with a raise of her chin. Casey shook her head and laughed once more, she opened her mouth to speak again but she was interrupted by the phone on her desk ringing. She answered,

“Novak”,

“Hey Casey, it’s Elliot”,

“I did recognise your voice”, she replied, still in a playful mood,

“Do you know where Alex is?” Elliot’s voice seemed serious and it jolted Casey back to reality,

“Yeah she’s right here, we were just talking about the case”,

“Good, I got worried when I couldn’t reach her at the office. You both need to come to the squad room now, Liv’s caught the person who was following her.”

“Who is it?” Casey asked urgently, sharing a quick glance with Alex who was listening closely to the conversation,

“Don’t know yet”, said Elliot “I’m just on my way back to the precinct now, I’ve been interviewing witnesses. All she said was that it was someone you and I both know well.”

“What?” Casey was completely stumped as to who it could be,

“Yeah it was a weird call. Look I’m back at the car and I have to go. I’ll see you guys soon.”

“Ok Elliot, we’ll see you there.” Casey hung up and looked at Alex, who’s face had returned to its usual unreadable state, “guess we’d better get going”, she said.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains instances of police corruption (nothing violent or related to brutality, just using position to break the law without consequences). This behaviour goes largely unchallenged by other characters, in keeping with what we often see on the show. In light of recent events especially is is important to consider how the media we consume affects our perception of the police and the justice system. In the media, police bending or flouting laws, disregarding the rights of suspects and using violence and coercion are often excused and justified by the narrative when the suspect is revealed to be evil and/or a particularly sympathetic or innocent victim is saved from harm as a result of these actions. Also important to consider is the portrayal of defence lawyers who advocate for suspects' rights; although this fic will contain a particularly unsavoury defence lawyer, it is important to remember that lawyers on the whole exist to protect the legal rights of civilians and challenge unlawful practices on the part of law enforcement. This is not to say we can't continue to enjoy shows such as SVU, but that we must think critically about them.

**5.**

They arrived at the squad room only moments before Elliot. Alex and Casey had just begun walking towards Cragen when the burly detective threw open the door to the squad room. Stabler looked like a man possessed, sweat glistened on his forehead and one of his rolled up sleeves was starting to slide back down his arm adding to his general dishevelment. He barely acknowledged the two ADAs and spoke directly to Cragen,

“Where is she?” he demanded. Casey and Alex shared a concerned glance, something wasn’t right.

“Who do you mean?” Cragen replied calmly, looking Elliot in the eye but there was an edge to his voice that indicated he was not impressed by the detective’s manner. Elliot threw one arm in the air and brought it back down to rub the back of his thinning head of hair, half turning away from the group as he scanned the room again. He took a deep breath,

“Liv” he said finally “where is she?”

“She’s interrogating the suspect”

“The one who was following her?” Elliot raised his voice in disbelief, stepping back towards Cragen and gesturing wildly with his arms.

“That’s not exactly protocol Captain”, Alex chimed in, suddenly concerned,

“It’s uh…” Cragen glanced between Elliot and Casey, “it’s a special case.” Alex raised her eyebrows at him and tilted her head to indicate she was going to need more information. “Look, you’ll understand when you see who it is” said the captain. With one last glance between Casey and Elliot he motioned for the three of them to follow him.

Casey’s stomach twisted when she saw who Olivia was talking to through the two-way mirror of the interview room. Elliot seemed considerably less surprised and yet much more anxious than the ADA, he kept sighing and rubbing his neck, as if part of him had been expecting this. Alex was watching the both of them with a bemused look, she didn’t recognise the woman who seemed to be having such an effect on her colleagues. She tried to catch Casey’s eye to elicit some kind of explanation but the other woman was looking steadfastly ahead, her lower lip caught between her teeth. Alex felt a kind of warmth creeping up her neck and diligently turned back to look at the woman Olivia was interviewing.

“Just tell me why you were following me”, the detective was saying, “was it personal?”

“Should it have been?” the woman asked, she seemed amused by her reply, lifting her eyes to look directly into Olivia’s and leaning back in the chair, arms crossed.

“Look I know about you and Stabler, but that doesn’t explain why you would follow me, or steal evidence… you’re a cop for god’s sake”,

“Me and _Stabler_?” the woman scoffed, “I know there’s nothing between the two of you, that is not where I thought you were going with this line of questioning.” Alex felt Casey stiffen next to her and shot a covert glance in the redhead’s direction. Surely it couldn’t be what she was thinking.

“Captain, you’ve got to let me go in there, I can get through to her”, said Elliot, still buzzing with tension. Cragen looked into the room and back of Elliot, pausing in thought.

“Ok detective” he said finally, “but Cabot and I will be watching. Casey, you don’t have to stay for this if it’s too much.” Casey looked as if someone had just slapped her across the face.

“Does everyone know?” she eventually whispered, Elliot and Cragen shared a glance,

“Cops talk Casey”, said Cragen gently, “and there’s no consequences, it wasn’t a conflict of interest.”

“Great, no that’s fine” said Casey shortly, clearly wanting to be anywhere else but stood looking at the woman on the other side of the glass. “I’m gonna go find Munch, see if I can have a look over the boys’ statements again.” With a final glance at Alex, she turned and walked away.

After waiting a moment to ensure the door was closed after the redhead , Alex crossed her arms firmly and looked at the two detectives:“Will someone please tell me what is going on here?” Alex asked, exasperated. She was worried about Casey, why would Cragen reassure her there was no conflict of interest?

“Who is this woman? What has she done, and what does it have to do with you, or Casey for that matter?”

“That”, said Elliot as he turned back to the window with a small sigh, “is detective Danni Beck. She was my partner for a while when Olivia was undercover with the eco-terrorists and you were… away.” He lifted his gaze to glance at Alex before returning to watch Olivia’s continued attempts to question the blonde detective.

“Why is she following Olivia?”

“Well obviously I don’t know yet”, replied Elliot, his earlier impatience returning. Alex was about to ask why all of this would matter to Casey, but she paused in trying to find the right words,,

“Well get in there and find out”, she snapped instead. Elliot gave a small shake of his head and stormed towards the interview room door.

“Liv found the laptop on her”, said Cragen quietly. Alex was glad in that moment for the calmness that exuded from the experienced Captain. “The woman on the front desk didn’t realise she doesn’t work for this unit anymore, so she let her up without signing in.”

“And no one saw her?” said Alex in disbelief, narrowing her eyes between her black-rimmed glasses. Cragen met her piercing gaze andshrugged,

“People were out collecting statements.” Alex closed her eyes and sighed in frustration, turning again to the conversation in the interview room.

“I’m sorry ok?” Beck was talking intensely to Elliot, “I just got in over my head, you don’t understand… the power these people have, the things they know about me.” Benson and Stabler shared a glance,

“What people?” Elliot asked

“Seriously Elliot, you need to leave this alone.” Danni turned away from him then, sitting back in her chair

“I can’t help you if you don’t tell me who put you up to this.”

“I want a lawyer”, she said, deliberately avoiding looking at the detectives. Elliot kicked a chair out of frustration and stormed out of the room, hurriedly followed by Liv.

“Well that went well”, said Alex dryly.

“We should send Casey in”, Liv said, ignoring Alex’s comment,

“What? She asked for a lawyer” replied Alex, suddenly anxious,

“Casey’s not a cop”, Liv replied “in fact she _is_ a lawyer”,

“I don’t know Liv”, said Elliot slowly

“No one is talking to her without a lawyer”, Alex said firmly, shooting Liv her best prosecutor look.

“It doesn’t have to be formal”, Olivia insisted, “Say we take the suspect to the bathroom, and Casey just happens to be there at the same time…”

“Can you not call her ‘the suspect’?” asked Elliot,

“She is a suspect Elliot, she was following me and she stole evidence!” Liv’s voice was increasing in volume as she jabbed her finger at the interrogation room.

“Absolutely not. The chain of evidence on the laptop is already compromised, you are not going to compromise this case any further with an underhanded interrogation”, said Alex, ignoring the bickering of the two detectives.

“Alex is right”, said Cragen, “we have to do this by the book. Besides, we haven’t prepped Casey, she has no idea what’s going on.”

“I’m not sure I know what’s going on”, said Alex, turning to look at each of them in turn. A moment of silence followed whilst the three detectives shared several looks between themselves.

“Casey and Danni had a thing”, said Elliot matter-of-factly,

“It was after she left the unit”, Cragen clarified. Alex tried to hide her initial shock at this revelation by looking at the hunched over figure of the former SVU detective as she sat in the interrogation room. Alex felt a sudden surge of dislike course through her. How dare this woman jeopardize Casey’s career by starting something with her, it was totally unprofessional. It was the thought of Casey’s career being compromised by all this that was causing her to feel so mad. It had to be, there could be no other explanation for this feeling, none at all. 


	6. Chapter 6

**6.**

Danni Beck’s lawyer convinced her to talk. The interview room was unusually crowded as she gave her statement, Fin and Elliot patiently asked her questions whilst the two ADAs and Cragen watched on. Alex stood stiffly beside Casey, keeping a deliberate distance and fixing her courtroom stare on the woman being interviewed. Casey quietly bit down on her lower lip and tried to avoid looking at anyone.

“I had to protect her”, Danni was saying, “if I lost my job, went to jail, there’d be no one to take care of her. We all know what happens to kids in foster care. He said if I didn’t take the laptop, didn’t try and disrupt the investigation… he could make that happen.” She pleaded earnestly, looking between Casey and Elliot’s faces, trying to get them to understand.

Elliot held Danni’s gaze and shifted forward in his seat, his arms leaning on the table as he pressed the former detective for more disclosure.

“Who is he?” Elliot asked. “You need to tell us who made you do this.”

“I can’t…he’s a cop…” Danni looked away from him and briefly caught Casey’s eye. The blonde officer looked exhausted and distressed, slumping lower into the uncomfortable metal chair that she’d been sat in for hours now. Alex could tell that she was close to telling them everything, now was not the time to be playing good cop, they needed details.

“We can’t sort out any deal for you if you can’t tell us”, said Alex, stepping forward, her arms crossed. Danni gaze switched to her and she deflated even further, wilting under the blonde’s fierce disposition. Danni sighed deeply, and looked down. She closed her eyes and eased the crick her neck before looking back up to Elliot, finding some strength in the familiar face, she started to speak low and purposefully,

“I don’t think he’s the guy behind it, just the messenger, they must have something on him as well”,

“You still need to tell us”, Alex stated, more calmly. She knew Danni was ready to confess now, they just needed it in writing.

Danni took another deep breath and looked up at Cragen,

“George Anderson, my sergeant.” No one moved or made a noise as repercussions of Danni’s disclosure immediately started to sink in. The tension which had been so palpable beforehand ratcheted up another degree. Cragen was the first to move, giving a gentle nod to Danni, his hands found their familiar position in his pockets as his eyes roved over the interview room ceiling. Elliot turned to face his captain as Fin dropped his hands down on the table in disgust,

“Not another corrupt precinct”, Fin muttered.

Casey could feel everyone’s eyes fall on her then. She knew what they must all be thinking: last time they had had a corruption case she hand ended up lying to a judge and getting herself censured. She glanced sideways, catching Alex’s eyes. Alex nudged her glasses in place and gave Casey and almost imperceptible smile and nod. The small gesture gave Casey confidence; Alex trusted her.

“What exactly does he have on you?” Casey’s low voice seemed to echo in the room as she drew even more attention to herself she stepped forward slightly, coming to stand by Alex’s shoulder. Danni hesitated to answer, she swallowed slightly before answering,

“My daughter”, said Danni allowing herself to glance for just a second at the surprised expressions on Elliot and Casey’s faces. Choosing to keep talking to Casey, the detective continued, “her father, he was a suspect in a case… he’s still wanted.” She looked round the room again, “I helped him escape.” She took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling to avoid the incredulous noises and faces looking accusingly at her, “I know it was wrong, and I don’t know that he’s innocent, but I couldn’t have her growing up with her daddy in prison.”

“And your sergeant knew?” said Elliot incredulously.

“I didn’t know he did,” Danni shot back at her former partner, showing her grit was still there, “not until he asked me to do this.”

“Who else knows?” Elliot continued,

“I have no idea, I didn’t think anyone did. I was careful.” Elliot sighed in frustration, he was about to start the questions again but the whole room jumped lightly as they were interrupted by a knock on the window. Cragen cleared his throat and quickly left. Everyone bar Alex nervously shuffled and avoided looking at each other. Alex tried to decipher the glances Danni and Casey kept giving each other when the other wasn’t looking. Cragen finally split the tension by sticking his head back round the door,

“Elliot, Fin, continue taking detective Beck’s statement, including the details of what she’s just confessed to” he shot his former detective a particularly hard stare before turning to address Alex and Casey, “counsellors, I need to speak to you outside.”

When they left the interview room they found a very agitated Olivia and a pensive looking Dr Huang.

“Honestly, I think she’s telling the truth”, he said,

“Then we should pull in this Anderson guy and see if his statement matches. If he’s not the top of the chain he should crack easily”, said Olivia, her short hair was unkempt from where she kept running her hand through it.

“You’re right”, said Cragen quietly, he turned to Casey “can you two prepare a warrant in case he doesn’t want to talk voluntarily?” The tall redhead nodded confidently.

“Danni’s statement should be enough to compel him to talk to us.”

“I’m sure that will be a relief for you if it gets her off the hook”, Olivia’s acerbic tone cut made both ADA’s whip to face her. Casey scoffed but managed to keep her cool, she swallowed thickly and looked away. Alex on the other hand looked daggers at Liv,

“Can I have a word with you detective?” Alex body language conveyed it was not a request Olivia should refuse.

“Sure”, said Liv coolly, in clear contrast to the tension in the set of her jaw and dark look she was shooting at the blonde... Alex turned on her heel and swept along the corridor, closely followed by the detective. The door opening seemed to release some of the tension that had built up and Casey was finally able to let out a deep sigh and tried to settle herself. Cragen let her have a moment before glancing at his watch,

“Sorry Counsellor, I have to be somewhere”, he said, hurrying off in the same direction as Alex and Liv. Casey was left staring into the interview room with Huang. The psychiatrist stepped up the window next to the redhead as she watched Danni Beck continuing to give a statement to Fin and Elliot.

“What’s going on there?” he asked gently motioning behind him to where Alex and Liv had stormed off,

“Honestly I have no idea”, replied Casey, a despondent chuckle involuntarily escaping her.

“It must be hard for her”, Huang mused, “the last time an ADA had to leave so suddenly, it was Alex, and it took a long time for her to come back.”

“I really don’t see why that makes Liv mad at me”,

“You came right back, as soon as you could, and it should’ve been harder for you.” Huang continued to watch the interview in front of him as Casey turned to look at him. “Alex stayed away for three years after she got out of witness protection”, he went on, “she didn’t even contact Olivia to tell her she was back.” Casey cocked her head at him, still perplexed, “whatever she told herself to make that fact easier, you coming back so soon and so competently has probably debunked it.” Casey took a moment to process what he was saying, her arms wrapped around her own waist,

“So because I came back right away, and Alex didn’t, it’s brought back all of Liv’s insecurities about why Alex didn’t come back?”

Huang shot her a quick smile, “That’s my theory”,

“I don’t know if I buy it”, said Casey, Huang turned and gave her an even bigger smile ,

“I did have one other idea”

“Oh yeah?”

“Well you know Liv and Alex were close, maybe now seeing how you and Alex are with each other…” his cheeky smile reminded Casey of his love of mischief.

“What do you mean how we are with each other?” He opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by Elliot crashing out of the interview room, storming past them both without a word. Fin followed, giving Casey and Huang an apologetic shrug. Casey’s attention was drawn back to Danni, sat in the interview room looking as though she hadn’t slept in days.

“Do you think I could talk to her?” she asked,

“Her lawyer is in there, so I don’t see why not”, George shrugged, “you already have a rapport.” Casey shot him a glare and let herself into the room. She sat down opposite Danni who shifted in her seat.

“Hey”, Casey said softly, trying to catch Danni’s eyes,

“Hey yourself”, Danni replied, trying to raise a smile. They looked at each other for a moment, each trying to find somewhere to start.

“How did you get so in over your head?” Casey’s tone was more concerned than accusatory,

“I don’t know Case, you know me, never look before I leap.” Danni’s self-depreciation lacked its usual sparkle and both women felt the seriousness of the situation drain their energy further. Determined not to let their moment pass though Casey sighed lightly and leaned forward with a wry smile,

“Yeah well you’re still not the only one there Beck”. Casey was pleased to see her response make Danni lean back and laugh like she used to when they would spend time together.

“Oh is that so? So what’s the deal with you and that blonde lawyer then? What’s her name …? Cabot?”

“There is no “deal””, said Casey using raising her eyebrow to match Danni’s incredulous look, “we work together, I guess she’s kind of my boss right now.”

“That’s not the way no boss of mine ever looked at me…”

“Why do you want to talk about this?” said Casey shifting forward once more, trying to deflect from the implications of what Danni had just said. The other woman paused and looked down at the table where she still was slowly wringing her hands,

“I just wanted something to feel normal”, she said at last, “teasing you was always something that came so natural,” she looked up again to give Casey a small smile.

“Yeah” said Casey reaching forward to grasp Danni’s hand for a moment, “I get that, now why don’t you tell me about this daughter of yours.”


	7. Chapter 7

**7.**

“So what did you want to talk about?” Liv asked dryly, as if she didn’t already know. She was perched on the corner of the table in a free interview room, her arms folded and a defiant look in her eyes. Alex stood opposite her, arms also crossed, eyes blazing with indignation.

“Don’t insult me by pretending you don’t know what’s going on”, she finally answered, looking directly at the detective. Olivia remained silent, her eyes locked with Alex’s, challenging her to say what she meant. It was a tactic Alex knew well, her relationship with the woman staring intently up at her had been defined by its intense moments such as this. She knew exactly how this conversation was going to go.

“Don’t play this game with me Liv”, she warned quietly, “I have much more patience than I used to.” Olivia sighed and shifted, finally looking away, uncrossing her arms so that they gripped the edge of the table instead, it was a clear indication that Liv was calming down. Alex was disquieted; it used to take much more than that to make the other woman back down.

“Why is Novak on this case?” her eyes met Alex’s again, but they were softer this time, searching for an answer. Alex’s stance relaxed a little,

“Because I need someone I can trust”,

“You trust her?” Liv’s voice still held an edge.

“You don’t?” Liv let out a frustrated sigh and stood up slowly,

“It’s not that…” she paused, looking to articulate exactly what the problem was, “her last case, it caused a lot of trouble, she lied to a judge…”

“And she was punished for it, pretty harshly”, remarked Alex, feeling the tension creeping back into her arms, “she’s a brilliant prosecutor Liv, she made one mistake.”

“So brilliant she’s only second chair? You don’t share cases, or credit.”

“This case is different and you know it, the defendant’s father works in the DA’s office.” Alex’s voice had lowered to a harsh whisper as she jabbed her finger in the air. “It’s not just that I know who’s side she’s on, this case could be so difficult to prosecute… and she has the occasional stroke of brilliance”, Alex tried to make that last comment seem offhand with a small shrug of her shoulder, but could also feel the blush growing on her cheeks. Liv raised an eyebrow at the growing rosiness,

“You sure it’s just about trust?” there was a note in her voice that stung Alex, she recognised it from when they’d argue. Olivia was jealous.

“Yes.” Alex settled herself and gave the detective a hard look over her glasses,

“That is all this is about, she’s the most competent person in the office, besides me”, Alex was annoyed that Liv was acting jealous even though they had broken up years ago, even though there was absolutely nothing going on between her and Casey. She let her mind linger on that point a little too long and the look Liv was giving her meant they both knew it, “there’s nothing going on with me and Casey”, she said aloud.

“I never said there was”, smirked Liv stepping forward into Alex’s space a bit more, “she just wants to buy you coffee from your favourite place and you keep getting all protective over her…”

“Because you’re being completely unfair to her! Seriously, why are you being such an asshole?” Alex felt her volume rising, she clenched her fists in an attempt to regain her composure,

“She just walked back in here”, said Liv simply, her voice was calm and her features cold, “she’d been censured and she came back like she’d never been away.” Alex knew what she was implying,

“And I didn’t come back for three years”,

“And you’ve never told me why.” The hurt and accusation was clear in Liv’s voice.Alex felt her throat tighten and willed herself not to start crying. She knew why she hadn’t come back, she just didn’t know how to say it; she didn’t know how to take all that pain and fear and make it into words that anyone else might understand. She turned away from Olivia when she realised she was shaking slightly.

“I’m sorry”, was all she managed, barely a whisper. She swallowed, trying to hold back the rising wave of emotion, “you shouldn’t take it out on Casey though. She put Connors away, without her I might not have been able to come back at all.”

“Maybe that would’ve been easier for us all”

“You don’t mean that”, the words caught in Alex’s throat. Liv continued to stare her down, Alex wasn’t sure when she’d gotten so close but she could feel the heat of her presence against her own skin.

“No”, sighed Liv eventually, retreating from Alex’s space and letting them both breathe,

“I don’t, I’m just… I don’t know why I’m so upset about it now.” Her eyes flicked up to Alex’s, finding comfort in the familiarity she found there. Alex felt the confusion in her gaze, but also the warmth. It softened her.

“This is a tough case, and I think there’s a lot about what happened with us that’s still there”, Alex stepped towards Liv, but stopped when she noticed the other woman’s bewilderment. “Oh god, I didn’t mean…”

“Oh” said Liv, quickly collecting herself, “good, I mean, I didn’t want to have to…” Alex laughed, relieving some of the tension and embarrassment,

“You’ll always be very important to me, but I think we’re both different people now”, she spoke softly, honestly. Olivia nodded,

“I feel the same about you”, for a moment a comfortable silence fell between them,

“Please apologise to Casey”, said Alex at last. Liv scoffed slightly but nodded again, a little reluctantly,

“I am amazed she hasn’t yelled at me yet”, the detective said with a half-smile,

“I think she’s still finding her feet again, and you’re lucky that that’s the case.”

“I heard she yelled at you?” Liv asked, her smile broadening

“She wasn’t happy about sitting second chair”, Alex laughed back, “until I explained the situation of course, I don’t know why you can’t all just trust my judgement.” Liv rolled her eyes,

“Because your judgement is always perfect, right?”

“Well, obviously.”

Liv laughed at the reply and shook her head,

“Come on, I want to see how this interview is going”, she headed for the door and Alex followed her, feeling a weight lifting off her chest. It was only a short journey down the corridor until they reached the interview room containing Danni Beck.

“Where’s Casey?” Liv asked as they approached Dr Huang. The psychiatrist inclined his head towards the two-way mirror. Alex turned to look and caught sight of Casey holding hands with the blonde detective. All too quickly Alex felt the pressure in her chest return, heat rushing up her cheeks as her heart unexpectedly felt like it had landed in her stomach.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> c/w for claustrophobia I guess? Also thank you so much for all your comments, I love reading them and they really keep me going

**8.**

Casey could feel the waves of tension radiating off Alex as they walked back to the office in silence. She assumed it had something to do with the earlier conversation between the blonde and Detective Benson, but she didn’t want to ask. She found herself glancing at Alex’s pursed lips as they waited for the elevator, noticing the set of her jaw and her eyes blazing with something she couldn’t quite place. As they stepped inside the elevator both ADAs turned to face the door but the small space seemed to amplify the tension. Casey couldn’t stand it anymore, she cleared her throat quietly and cast a quick glance at the blonde next to her,

“Is everything ok? Did something happen with Liv?”

“She’s going to apologise to you.” Alex continued to look straight ahead of her avoiding looking at Casey.The answer didn’t clear anything up for Casey,

“Are you two ok?” she pressed.

“Why wouldn’t we be?” snapped Alex sharply over her shoulder, she straightened again and regripped her hands on her briefcase as she continued, “she was being unprofessional and I let her know.”

“Well, thank you” Casey was taken aback by Alex’s demeanour, but settled back to watching the lift floor lights flick off as they passed through the building.

“Now I’m starting to wonder if she might have been right about you though”, Alex flinched almost imperceptibly as she ended the sentence, as if surprised she had spoken out loud, she tried to hide it by readjusting her glasses and shuffling on the spot..

“Excuse me?” replied Casey, incredulously turning abruptly to face Alex square on . Alex opened her mouth to reply but she was interrupted by a horrible screeching noise and the grinding of metal as the elevator came to a juddering stop, the abrupt movement caused Alex to start to lose her balance and tip forward, Casey instinctively reached out to steady her though and as the juddering stopped, her eyes found Alex’s and she saw a flash of panic in their bright blue hues. It was strange to see the blonde looking so vulnerable, she let Alex’s arms go though and both women straightened up, Casey took a couple of deep breaths before noticing that the normally composed blonde was very agitated.

“Where’s the emergency button?” Alex asked, eyes frantically scanning the control panel, she found it and pressed it, tapping her foot and stretching out her neck impatiently as it rang out. Casey checked her watch.

“It’s shift change for security, we won’t get an answer for at least twenty minutes”, she cast her eyes around the small metal box they were in, taking stock of their situation.

“You know the security shifts?” Alex finally turned away from the panel to regard the redhead as she settled against the cool metal handrail that ran around the sides of the elevator walls.

“Yeah I made a point to learn them after someone got into my office.” The two women took stock of each other for a moment, trying to work out the next step.

“I’ll call Liv”, said Alex, reaching into her purse and pulling out her phone.

“There’s no service”, said Casey. Alex glared at her over the top of her glasses and phone, having just confirmed this for herself. She sighed in frustration as she dropped the phone back into the purse and put it down by her feet so she could more easily cross her arms in front of herself, taking comfort in the familiarity of the pose in the uncomfortable situation.

“I guess we’re stuck here then.”

They stood in opposite corners of the elevator for a few minutes both consciously trying to avoid catching the eyes of the other. Casey chewed at her lip gently, and Alex fussed at her blazer, picking at a few offending stray hairs as she worked on calming her racing heartrate.

“What did you mean before?” Casey’s steady voice brought Alex back to their earlier exchange and she could feel her defensiveness return .

“You and Beck. Alex swallowed lightly, ‘It’s totally unprofessional.” Alex only gave a perplexed Casey a quick glance before looking away.

“What?” Casey lightly scoffed before mirroring Alex in crossing her arms as she leaned forward, “she’d already left the unit and it wasn’t even serious.’ She backed away from Alex’s space, ‘It’s not like you can talk either, everyone knows you and Liv were together for years…”

“Liv wasn’t trying to sabotage our case”,

“I didn’t know Danni was! Casey couldn’t help raise her voice and arms in indignation, she pursed her lips as she regained composure ‘I hadn’t seen her in years until today.” she sighed in exasperation

“You still seemed pretty close to me. Holding her hand in the interview room?” Alex’s tone was accusatory and she narrowed her eyes behind her thick-rimmed glasses.

“Wait, what? Oh”, Casey paused as she began to grasp the situation, “that is not what you think.”

“What was it then?”

“She’s a good person, she needed something to feel normal.”

“You didn’t think maybe she’s trying to manipulate you?”

“For god’s sake Alex, I’m not stupid, I would know if that were the case.”

“Well do you still have feelings for her?” Casey scoffed in response,

“Honestly? I’m not sure I ever did. It was just a fling.”

“How does she feel about you?”

“How the hell am I supposed to know? I’m not psychic, or Huang.” The joke was enough to make the corner of Alex’s mouth lift genuinely. Casey felt an odd twinge as she remembered her last conversation with the psychiatrist. She pushed off from the wall to take a step to other side of the lift, “Why are you pushing this so hard?”

“We might need her as a witness and everything needs to be above board on this case.” Alex’s eyes tracked the redhead as she moved in the small space.

“It is above board.”

“Good”, Alex’s tone seemed to lighten, Casey noticed they’d taken several steps towards each other during their heated exchange. She found herself blushing being in such close proximity to the tall blonde and hoped it looked like it was from her previous anger.

“She was asking me about you”, Casey blurted out,

“What?” Alex looked confused,

“She thinks there’s something going on between us”, Casey tried to laugh it off, “she seemed pretty keen on the idea come to think of it, so I guess you don’t have to worry about her having feelings for me.”

Alex seemed amused giving her head a light shake,“What did you tell her?”

“That there was nothing going on. Obviously”, Casey added quickly, looking away. Had she kept watching Alex she would have the tall blonde nervously glance at her feet.

“I’m sorry”,

“That there’s nothing going on?” Casey quipped as she settled against her handrail once more. Alex glared at her,

“I’m trying to be serious Novak. I’m sorry I accused you of being unprofessional.” Casey was taken aback, Alex Cabot was not known for her forthcoming apologies. “I misread what I saw, let emotion cloud my interpretation.” Casey didn’t let herself think about what emotion might have been playing on Alex’s mind.

“Because you’d just defended me to Liv right?”

“Something like that.” Alex smiled uneasily at her and Casey felt the tension lift again, “are security back yet?” Casey checked her watch,

“Should be, unless there was a line at the coffee place down the street.” Alex raised an eyebrow,

“You do know a lot about security”

“Yeah well you get cautious when someone gets into your office and beats you unconscious.” There was a pause as Alex looked at her shocked, “sorry I thought you knew, it’s in my file.”

“I didn’t read your file beyond the stats.”

“Now that’s just unprofessional.” Casey’s attempt at humour only earned her another patented over-the-glasses eye-roll from Alex.

“Maybe you’re just not that interesting Novak”, she smirked, “although I was pretty interested to find out you like cops.”

“I thought cops were more your thing. Are you going to press that emergency button or what?” Alex headed back towards the control panel and Casey let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. She listened as Alex explained the situation to the voice on the end of the call and tried to process the emotional rollercoaster of the last twenty minutes.

“They’re going to reset the system, it’ll go dark for a minute or so but then we should be moving again.”

“Thanks for telling me, I couldn’t hear the entire conversation from two feet away”, said Casey sarcastically as the lights went out then flickered on again. The elevator gave a groan and shuddered into life. “Well, thank god for that”.

“I thought you would be disappointed that we weren’t being rescued by more women in uniform”, teased Alex as they finally reached their floor and the doors slid open.

“You’re projecting again Cabot”, said Casey as they stepped out of the elevator, “it’s not cops I have a thing for, it’s blondes.” Alex stood still in the elevator dumbfounded as Casey strode away. If Casey added a little extra swagger to her walk then she put it down to winning the last word against Alex, and not because she knew her legs looked great in the heels she’d chosen for that day.


	9. Chapter 9

**9.**

Casey didn’t see Alex for a few days after the ‘elevator incident’ as she now thought of it, she was mostly stuck behind her desk filling out paperwork for the rest of the cases she had on at the moment. All her other cases were routine, a couple of arraignments but the charges were minor and she was almost certain that she could get them to plead out. She found herself wishing things were more complicated, or that the detectives would get a breakthrough in the Amelia Santos case, anything to give her an excuse to talk to Alex. The sound of her phone ringing made her jump,

“Novak”,

“Hey Casey, it’s Liv”,

“Is there a break in the case?” she asked eagerly,

“Not in yours unfortunately… look I was supposed to be testifying for one of Alex’s cases this afternoon but the guy changed his plea this morning. I’m already at the courthouse and I have about an hour free, so I was wondering, can we talk?” Casey didn’t quite know how to react, she picked up a pen and twirled it between her fingers as she leaned back in her chair, this must be leading to the apology Alex had arranged.

“Sure, we could get coffee?”

“Sounds great, where shall I meet you?” Casey hesitated again, she was still worried this might blow up into an argument and she didn’t want it to be in front of half the DA’s office. She suggested a place a little walk away.

“If you head to my office we can walk over together”, she added.

“Ok I’ll see you in a few”, Liv hung up. Casey exhaled, bouncing lightly against the resistance of the chair as she looked over the walls of her office deep in thought. She did want to be back on good terms with the detective and besides, if they patched things up she could legitimately go update Cabot, in person...

***

Before Liv arrived, Casey had decided to act as if everything was okay. Olivia, like Alex, was not known for her apologies and Casey figured a return to normality might be the best she would get.

“You’d better be good company”, she teased as they headed out of the building, “I’m missing my lunchtime run for this.”

“You have time to go running over lunchtime?” there was light mockery in the detective’s tone,

“I do when my biggest case is stalling”, Casey shot back,

“Ouch”, laughed Olivia as she ducked around several people in the street, her hands remaining firmly tucked into her coat pockets, “it’s not stalling, we’re just treading lightly, trying to chase the blackmail threat against Beck further up the chain. Turns out her CO is just a small fry in the operation.”

That revelation brought Casey to an abrupt halt, making Olivia pause and turn to wait for her to catch up with her,

“That doesn’t sound promising”, she said quietly, offering Liv a grim smile.

“Yeah, I hate to think how high this one goes.” The two women were silent for a moment as they continued their walk side by side through the familiar city streets. 

“Casey, I’m sorry I’ve been such an asshole.” Olivia stopped abruptly, gently taking Casey’s arm and turning the redhead to face her. Casey waited a beat but then couldn’t help but laugh,

“I’m sorry”, she said, still laughing, “I guess I wasn’t expecting you to apologise quite like that.”

“You were expecting my apology?” Liv seemed amused and Casey reddened, she lowered her head towards the detective conspiratorially,

“Alex told me she was making you apologise but I wasn’t sure you would”, she admitted. Her revelation made Olivia laugh quietly with a small shake of her head.

They’d reached the coffee shop and Casey swung the door open, a wave of warmth hit her face along with the familiar comforting scent of roasting coffee beans. There was something oddly calming about it all, the chink of cups and saucers and the hiss of steam, the low level of conversation and the scraping of chairs on the floor.

“Alex didn’t make me do anything”, said Liv finally, “what’re you having?” she gestured towards the menu,

“Since it’s on you I’ll get a cappuccino, extra foam”

Liv gave her a look that said ‘extra foam, really?’ but didn’t comment. Casey tried to get the previous conversation back on track, “She made it sound as if she did, right before she backtracked, said you were right, and yelled at me”, she chuckled nervously, not quite sure why she’d shared that information.

“You two seem to get on really well for two people who keep yelling at each other”, said Liv looking over her shoulder at the tall redhead, the accompanying slow arch of her eyebrow caused a blush to rise on Casey’s cheeks, she hoped it wasn’t as obvious as it felt. They reached the counter and Liv gave their orders and paid. She turned back to Casey, “Why did she say I was right? I didn’t even really think you were suspicious…” Olivia met Casey’s eyes and then looked away with mild embarrassment I was just having trouble adjusting to you both being back.”

“She saw me holding hands with Danni”,

“Oh”, Liv’s expression changed to one of amused understanding, a quirk smirk gracing her features.

“Ugh it’s not like that”, said Casey, misunderstanding, “she’s basically a good person who was having a hard time.” Liv chose not to clear up what she had actually meant. “What’s wrong with me being back anyway?” she said her eyebrows scrunching together in confusion, feigning annoyance as they swerved between tables, balancing steaming cups of coffee.

“Nothing”, said Liv as they finally chose a table and sat down, balancing their coffees on the uneven table as they took their coats off, Olivia sighed lightly before giving Casey a tired smile, “you know when you think you’ve dealt with something but it comes back and bites you in the ass?”

“You mean like when we used to play softball and you always got out? You thought you’d hit it well enough and then…” Casey trailed off with a wicked smile as she was interrupted by a glare from Liv, “sorry, I’m just winding you up.” Casey shuffled her seat forward and settled her hands on both sides of her coffee, enjoying the warmth it gave. She looked up at Olivia more gently, “Were you talking about Alex before?”

“I know it’s not fair” Olivia shrugged lightly and cast her eyes around whilst she searched for the right words, Casey let the detective have her thinking time, not wanting to accidently push Olivia and annoy her again. Finally Olivia looked back up at her, “Alex doesn’t owe me any explanation, and I thought I’d dealt with that”, Olivia clasped her hands tightly around the coffee cup and stared down at the dark liquid, “It just seems like it was so easy for you coming back, so easy for her to be around you when the last time she really saw you was the Connors’ trial…”

Casey crossed her legs, coffee in one hand as she leaned forward, making Olivia focus on her, “Yes but she doesn’t have the same history with me she does with you, I was never part of her life before witness protection and you were…” she trailed off, unsure of what they actually _were_.

“It’s ok, I know everyone knows, we didn’t do a great job of hiding it”, Liv smiled ruefully, looking up from her coffee to meet Casey’s gaze.

“Maybe that’s why it was easier for her seeing me again”, Casey continued reassuringly, “she just thinks of me as a not-totally-incompetent prosecutor who helped her out,” Casey was pleased to see a small quirk of Olivia’s lips. “I think it would’ve been much harder for me to come back if it meant seeing my ex regularly after having to spend years being a totally different person” Casey sat back and took a gratifying sip of her extra foamy cappuccino, “Honestly, I’m amazed she came back at all.”

“I think she thinks of you as more than that. Yours isn’t an easy job”, said Liv straightening with a small smile, “I told myself that’s why she couldn’t come back right away, it was nothing to do with us…”

“Do you still…?” the question was out of Casey’s mouth before she could stop it,

“Oh no, not anymore”, Liv gave a small laugh, “She’s not the only one who’s a different person now, although she really didn’t seem all that different when we were fighting about you.”

“You weren’t fighting about me, you were fighting about you being an asshole”, Casey deflected, taking another quick mouthful of her foamy coffee. She sat more upright in her hard chair hoping to convey an air of righteousness

Olivia watched as Casey sat primly, lightly fussing at her skirt hemline on her raised knee. She waited till the ADA made eye contact with her once more,

“You know you might be more credible if you weren’t sporting a foam moustache”, retorted Oliva, gesturing to Casey’s upper lip, the detective’s smile was unrestrained,

“Is it intimidating you? Maybe I should wear it to court…” Casey tried to play it off as unfazed, refusing to reach for a napkin. She smirked back at the lightly chuckling detective.

“I take back what I said about you being more than a not-totally-incompetent prosecutor…”

“Be nice to me or I’ll tell Alex”, Casey warned, her eyes glinting with mischief. Liv cracked up even more.

“Fine, you go back to work with a foam moustache Novak, I’m sure she’ll be thrilled.” Casey finally picked up the napkin and wiped off the offending foam, she then finished her coffee in one long swig. She checked her watch,

“Shit I’ve got to go, I’ve got an arraignment this afternoon”,

“What case?” Liv asked as they shrugged on their coats and headed out,

“The Moran one”,

“Oh the ice cream truck flasher?”

“Yeah that’s the one. Dash cam footage is pretty damning, he should take a plea.”

“I should head back to the precinct, some ADA is on my ass about how a case isn’t progressing fast enough.” Casey shot her a glare,

“I just want to put the little bastards away.”

“We all want that”, Liv paused, reaching out to lightly touch Casey’s elbow so she had her full attention once more, “thanks for meeting me.”

“Thanks for the coffee”, Casey smiled in return, “and the conversation.”

“We all good?” the detective checked.

“Yeah, all good”, smiled Casey. They turned to go their separate ways and Casey felt her pace pick up as she realised she might just still catch Alex before her arraignment.


	10. Chapter 10

**10.**

Casey was disappointed to see the lights off in Alex’s office by the time she got back. She sighed deeply, she had no right to expect Alex to be in her office, she was probably busy with some case. Besides, Casey had to get to that arraignment. She unlocked the door to her office and picked up the case file on the ice-cream truck flasher, then spent some time shuffling papers on her desk, half listening for the sound of Alex’s footsteps in the corridor. She checked her watch with another small sigh, Alex wasn’t coming and she really had to go.

Court was a nightmare. The ice-cream truck flasher had somehow managed to retain an expensive lawyer: Colin Garrett –particularly smarmy and with unscrupulous character and grossly overslicked-back hair whom Casey strongly disliked. She always felt like Garret was throwing his weight around, he’d had the audacity to call her ‘sweetcheeks’ once on the courthouse steps as they were leaving after a particularly sharp-worded stalking trial and Casey had taken great pleasure in tearing him apart in front of some hovering reporters. Currently Garrett seemed to be his usual overbearing self, questioning how the dash cam footage had been obtained, and whether it violated his client’s constitutional rights. The judge admitted there was enough of a grey area and Casey now had to prepare for a Brady hearing on top of everything. The only consolation being that the judge saw fit to set bail high, and cash only, despite Garrett’s attempt at overly-ingratiating protests.

In any case, the arraignment had dragged on for much longer than Casey planned and by the time she made it back to the office she just wanted to go home and unwind by watching a game with a cold beer. As she approached her office door however she saw a familiar tall figure hovering outside it.

“Hey Casey, I was just about to give up and go home”, Alex Cabot sounded unusually cheerful for the end of the day.

“You were waiting for me?” Casey asked tentatively, stopping a few steps away from the blonde.

“No, no I just, I thought I’d see if you were back from court yet”, Alex looked away, “how was it?” she asked, steering the conversation towards safer territory. Casey unfroze and gave a dramatic but tired sigh, stepping past Alex to unlock her office door, tucking the file under her arm and pushing her way in using her shoulder. She paused to hold it open with her back foot so Alex could follow her in.

“It was terrible”, Casey admitted as she dropped her briefcase and purse at the side of her desk, “I don’t know how this guy can afford that pain in the ass Garrett as his lawyer.” Alex raised a questioning eyebrow, Casey dumped the last few files on her desk and turned back towards her, suddenly aware of how small her new office was. “He thinks the dashcam footage violated his client’s constitutional rights, and he’s also complaining about chain of evidence given it was obtained from a victim’s father several weeks after the incident.”

“None of that should be a problem under existing case law”, said Alex, tilting her head. Casey took the chance to lean against the edge of her desk, hands lightly braced either side of her perch.

“The victim’s father edits video for a living”, Casey looked away and shook her head slightly, “And of course there has to be a hearing because no one trusts that ADA Novak isn’t lying to a judge to get her conviction”, she said bitterly, refusing to meet Alex’s searching blue eyes.

“Hey”, said Alex softly, placing her hand on Casey’s shoulder to get her attention, “people have come back after much worse, and none of them were a patch on you.” Casey lifted her eyes to meet Alex’s gaze and smiled reluctantly,

“Tell me that after I’ve put this guy in jail.” Casey liked how her quip raised a smile on Alex’s face, “Actually I saw Liv today”, she added, changing the subject.

“Oh yeah?” Alex took her hand back and crossed her arms, smiling knowingly now,

“Yeah, we had coffee, she apologised. It was pretty nice actually”, said Casey. Alex tipped her head back lightly and laughed,

“Well that went more smoothly than I expected, what else did you two talk about?”

“What, what do you mean?” said Casey, suddenly anxious as she remembered the main topic of conversation had actually been the blonde standing in front of her,

“You were gone for while”, said Alex, gesturing flippantly with one hand, “Liv might have apologised but she didn’t spend that much time apologising.”

“Oh, you know”, said Casey, grateful for the thinking time Alex’s response offered, “We just talked about… softball…” Alex raised an eyebrow, “…and...uh… moustaches.” Alex’s eyebrow reached new heights. Casey had to look away, silently berating herself for saying something that sounded so ridiculous, she could feel her cheeks warming under the scrutiny and in embarrassment of the hole she seemed to have managed to dig herself into, some hotshot lawyer she was!

“What did you want to talk to me about anyway?” It was Alex’s turn to look slightly panicked,

“I wanted to see how court went”, she said hurriedly, “and Fin called, they think they’ve found some more evidence against the boys in the Amelia Santos case, but they need to check something with a witness in the morning. Just wanted to give you a heads up.”

“Anything on the blackmail situation?” Casey asked. Alex shook her head,

“They’re still trying to trace the anonymous threats to Anderson. I’m still trying to figure out a way around chain of custody laws which will let us enter the laptop into evidence when they finally bring me enough for an arrest warrant.” Alex pinched the bridge of her nose, obviously frustrated.

“Sounds like you need a drink”, said Casey as she stood up and turned to begin sorting which papers she needed to take in her briefcase, “If Fin’s witness pans out this might be the last time we get to leave the office for a while.” Satisfied she had what she needed to turned to Alex’s with a small cheeky smile.

“Just the one then”, smiled Alex in return, “if Fin’s witness pans out we’ll need our wits about us.”

“I wasn’t exactly suggesting we go on a three day binge Cabot”, Casey’s retort was interrupted by the rumbling of her stomach.

“I guess you didn’t have dinner yet?”

“Maybe you should consider a career change to detective”,

“Detectives don’t wear uniforms” Alex teased. Casey just rolled her eyes,

“Jesus Cabot you’re obsessed. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“Ok, but we’re stopping for pizza on the way, I’m not letting you drink on an empty stomach.” Alex's stern voice made Casey chuckle.

“I thought I invited you as a friend, not a chaperone.”

“You absolutely need a chaperone…”

As they gathered their things and walked out of the building the bickering continued. In the middle of one of Alex’s witty quick-fire retorts Casey couldn’t help but suddenly laugh,

“What is it?” Alex asked, pouting and crossing her arms in mock annoyance.

“Well if I can hold my own against you, that Garrett idiot in a Brady hearing should be no trouble at all.”

Alex gave Casey a genuine smile, “Well duh” she bumped her shoulder against the redheads as they walked to the nearby pizzeria, “You’d run rings around that puffed up grease weasel even on the morning after a three day bender.” Alex loved seeing the laugh she’d managed to get from Casey. “Did I ever tell you of the time I managed to get Garrett so tied up in his case law the perp just admitted to an offence so he’d stop waffling?”

Casey looked delighted as they reached the DA’s office favoured pizza place, the yellow glow of light through the window lit up the glee on her face, “No! But you are going to tell me every detail over some pizza, now come on I’m hungry!”


	11. Chapter 11

**11.**

It ended up being a late one. Sitting across from each other at a tiny, slightly greasy, table crammed in the corner, Casey had been surprised to see Alex order the same beer as she did. She was even more surprised when Alex knocked it back before the pizza even arrived. Casey had found herself looking over the long column of Alex’s neck as she drank, and felt a heat settle in her stomach despite the cold beer. As for Casey, she’d nursed the drink late into the evening, until it was lukewarm and flat. Honestly, she hadn’t even noticed. Alex had her in stitches with her dramatic retelling of how she’d taken down Garrett with her extensive knowledge of case law. Perhaps Alex had embellished the story some to keep Casey laughing, perhaps she liked how it looked when the redhead smiled and leaned back in her chair or the sound of her laugh. In any case it was close to midnight when the owner politely sidled over to tell them he was closing up. Casey looked at her watch with a start,

“Oh no”, she groaned “it’s nearly tomorrow already.”

“Oops”, said Alex, although the way the corner of her mouth lifted in a small smirk said she wasn’t at all bothered, “better get you back before curfew.” Casey shot her a glare,

“You are the worst chaperone ever.” Alex gave a loud, clear laugh as they shrugged their coats on and headed towards the door. Alex did an awkward half-run to get there first and hold it open for Casey,

“After you”,

“Thank you”, said Casey tentatively,

“No problem, I know you can have some trouble remembering how doors work”, said Alex, trying to keep her face serious. Casey swatted at her arm and the serious exterior Alex had been trying to hold together broke and she chuckled.

“You are the worst”, Casey repeated “and tomorrow is going to be terrible.”

As they stepped out into the cool night air the happy bubble that they had created seemed to fade away as the weight of their usual responsibilities gently settled on them once more,

“You think Fin’s witness will pan out?” Alex asked quietly after a few beats,

“That guy has an uncanny ability to get information” said Casey, stopping as they reached the end of the street, “um, I’m this way”, she gestured left.

“I’m the other direction, I was going to walk a block and get a cab, will you be ok?” The look of concern in Alex’s eyes was genuine,

“Yeah it’s only a couple of blocks”, Casey wanted to make a joke about how Alex was a terrible chaperone for not offering to walk her back, but one beer wasn’t nearly enough for her to entertain that suggestion, even in jest.

“Ok, well let me know when you get home.”

“You too”, Casey said, offering an awkward smile and a wave as she turned and walked towards her apartment.

***

Casey woke up with a smile on her face despite the late night and the incessant beeping of her alarm. After a quick shower and throwing back a cup of coffee that was slightly too hot she found herself rushing to the office. She wasn’t going to be late, but they were expecting a break in the case so it would be good to be there at little early. At least that’s what she told herself as she put the giddy feeling in her chest down to the caffeine and adrenaline rush.

As it happened she didn’t even make it to the office before getting a call that had her turning to head for the precinct instead. When she arrived there was a palpable buzz of excitement around the place,

“Casey! We’re in interview room three”, Liv hailed her as she entered the squad room, “Cragen had us move the evidence after laptop-gate”, she explained as Casey approached. They fell into familiar step beside each other as they walked towards the interview room. When they opened the door they were confronted by a giant evidence board covered in pictures and clippings connected by a complex web of red string. Alex was already there, jacket off and bent over as she examined something at the bottom corner of the board. Alex straightened up and caught Casey’s gaze and smiled in greeting,

“Nice of you to join us counsellor”, she said,

“What is this?” said Casey, not rising to Alex’s teasing and trying to focus on the job at hand,

“This is what Fin’s witness gave us”, said Cragen. Casey looked over at Fin who was stood next to the board, grinning, his hands shoved in his pockets. Then she took a closer look at the board, it was covered with papers: newspaper cuttings, photos, old missing posters and memorial service pamphlets, each carefully labelled with a year and the name of a volunteer project.

“OK, is your witness a conspiracy theorist? Missing kids, suspected runaways, gang shootings, suicides, car accidents… these are all just people who’ve died or gone missing after being involved in volunteer projects. There’s no connection beyond coincidence, no judge will look twice at this.”

“Slow down Casey”, said Elliot, “all these people died or disappeared on exactly the same date a year apart…”

“Do you know what the population of New York is Elliot?” Casey always could give as good as she got.

“All the volunteer projects were run by the Titus Thule Foundation,” Elliot stood in front of the board and tapped several newspaper cuttings and pamphlets that showed the same logo. “They come up with a new project every year for the kids of the most exclusive private schools in the city.” More pointing to links coming off the web. “They do a year of community service on a project and they’re basically guaranteed admission to the Ivy League.” Elliot leaned against a desk with his arms crossed as the rest of the room tried to catch up and absorb the scale of what was being presented to them.

“Did you say the Titus Thule Foundation?”

“Yeah, why?” Casey turned to look at Alex,

“I’ve heard that name before, don’t they fund defence lawyers sometimes?” Alex waited a moment before speaking,

“Yeah you are right. Actually I think Garrett’s been on their payroll a few times.” Casey shook her head,

“I hate that guy.”

“Puffed up grease weasel”, nodded Alex sagely, sharing a knowing smile with Casey. The detectives all looked at one another, Cragen cleared his throat,

“If we can get back to the case at hand…”

“Right”, said Alex, “these are big coincidences, but like Casey I don’t see anything to link them definitively, I also don’t see the link to Amelia Santos.”

Olivia moved to the board this time, pointing to a small cluster on the right hand side,“All three boys spent this year working on one of the foundation’s projects. It was a program to help underprivileged kids get access to books and boost their reading skills, and it was centred in Amelia Santos’s neighbourhood.”

“And you think her death is connected to all these other cases?” Alex sounded sceptical,

“It’s too much of a coincidence”, said Munch, who had clearly been bursting to chime in on the discovery of a conspiracy.

“I agree it’s suspicious”, Alex paused, “but it’s not enough for a warrant or to get past a judge. I need something concrete.”

“Can you get us a warrant for the foundation’s financials?” asked Liv,

“Not without some clear evidence of wrongdoing, these people keep very expensive legal teams”, murmured Alex, her eyes roving over different high profile names and organisiation that appeared across the board. The longer she looked the more names of places and firms linked to the ‘great and the good’ of New York high society were appearing. She dipped her head to look away and stop spiralling.

“Munch, do you still have that friend in the white collar?” asked Elliot. Munch nodded, 

“What’re you thinking?”

“Maybe if the white collar cops have had cause to investigate the foundation, we could get a warrant related to fraud…”

“I could argue that if there was financial misconduct going on at the project, and it was discovered, Amelia may have been murdered as a warning to keep quiet” mused Alex,

“Are we sure that’s not what happened?” asked Liv,

“No, money and fear are always good motives for murder”, said Fin solemnly. There was a moment of quiet as they were reminded of the horror of the little girl’s death.

“Right”, said Cragen, taking control of the situation,

“Munch and Fin head down to white collar, Liv and Elliot, go down to this reading project the boys were involved in and see what you can find out.” The detectives nodded and began to gather themselves in preparation for their assigned tasks. They all filed out of the room.

“I’d better start doing some research for this warrant, you can bet it won’t be straightforward”, said Alex as they headed out of the squad room,

“I can give you a hand later, right now I have to prep for the Brady hearing with the grease weasel”, sighed Casey.

“Don’t worry, there won’t be too much we can do until Munch and Fin get back from white collar. If you like we can get coffee later and compare notes?” Casey smiled at the suggestion, Alex had a knack for finding ways to reassure her without making it obvious.

“Sure, you’ll probably need my help”, she joked. Alex rolled her eyes,

“I’ll consider it a thank you for all the times I’ve helped you get through doors.” Alex’s small laugh had just a hint of wickedness in it. Casey couldn’t help but love it.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday everyone! Thanks for sticking with me through this incredibly slow burn, I promise things start to pick up speed in the next few chapters.

**12.**

“How did it go?” the familiar voice of Alex Cabot lifted Casey’s spirits immediately. She looked up from her desk to see the blonde casually leaning against the door frame.

“The dashcam footage is in”, replied Casey, taking the chance to try roll the persistent crick from her shoulders.

“Then why do you look so stressed out?” Alex pushed herself off the door frame and closed the several steps towards Casey. The redhead held her gaze for a moment before giving a small sigh,

“The footage is not as damning as first thought”,

“I thought we had the whole thing on camera?” Alex perched on the corner of the desk, her skirt riding up just slightly to expose a pale knee, Casey tried caught herself looking and quickly shuffled some papers in front of her, Alex leaned over to look more closely and this time Casey caught the faint scent of her perfume, she had to shake her head lightly to clear her thoughts.

“We have him flashing the kid, but it’s not clear how his pants get open. A car drives across the shot at the crucial moment. Garrett is planning to argue some ridiculous defence about a faulty pants fastening.” Alex watched the footage that Casey had been going over, the tall blonde had to shift her position on the desk to see the Casey’s screen properly and Casey was suddenly very aware of how close their hands were. When the tape finished Alex looked up, 

“I’d like to say a jury won’t go for that but…”

“He’ll make it seem like it could happen to anyone”, Casey finished Alex’s thought.

“I thought the guy was a serial flasher?”

“He is but the charges were severed because the M.O. isn’t distinctive enough and Garrett’s a grease weasel”, Casey groaned and leaned forward to rest her head on her arms, frustrated that the case seemed to be unravelling before her. Alex chuckled lightly as she took in Casey’s melodrama,

“Well, I would suggest a drink but it’s not even lunchtime and we have a lot of work to do,” Casey turned her head to the side to look up at Alex expectantly, “The team served the warrant for the TTF’s financials yesterday and their lawyers are already contesting it”, said Alex.

“It’s ok”, Casey lifted her head fully and sat back properly, “I was going to go blow off some steam at the batting cages anyway. Pretend the balls are Garrett’s face.”

“Or his balls”, suggested Alex with a smirk. Casey snorted with laughter before pulling a disgusted face,

“I really do not want to think about his balls Alex, even in a violent way.” causing the blonde to laugh and raising Casey’s own spirits in turn.

“I can’t believe you deal with stress with softball practice”,

“Well before I got suspended I didn’t handle my stress at all, and we both know how that turned out.”

“Oh? How else do you handle your stress?” Alex asked quietly, her gaze was intense. Casey felt the blood rush to her cheeks even though Alex was definitely not implying that, there was no way she could be implying that. Casey swallowed nervously floundering slightly at the direction Alex had taken the conversation, or rather where her own brain had decided the conversation,’

“I, um, I, well actually… I cook”,

“You cook?” Alex was incredulous,

“Hey we can’t all live off take out and keep your figure”, Casey waved her hand towards Alex but couldn’t help letting her eyes glance up and down said figure. Alex let out another gentle laugh at the redheads’ antics, she leaned forward slightly to bring Casey’s focus back to her

“If you’re so worried about my diet maybe you should cook for me”, Alex said with a characteristic raise of one eyebrow.

Casey swallowed lightly, her mind racing almost as quick as her heart rate, “I would love to, but the chances of either of us getting to leave the office once that warrant is served are very slim.” Casey could’ve sworn she saw a shadow of disappointment cross Alex’s face as the blonde settled back more upright once more.

“You’re right, guess you’ll just have to buy me takeout instead whilst we camp out in our offices”,

“Sounds great”, said Casey sarcastically rolling back her chair, “when do we start?”

***

They started sooner than either of them had expected. Alex wasn’t even sure where to find the batting cages, but Cragen had pointed her in the right direction before mysteriously rushing off again. She followed the rhythmic sound of balls being struck by a wooden bat until she rounded a corner and saw Casey. The sight of the redhead stopped her in her tracks. Alex let her eyes linger on Casey’s toned arms and shoulders, on display thanks to the tank top she was wearing. Her eyes travelled down, taking in how the shirt clung loosely to Casey’s waist, stopping at the waistband of her sweatpants which sat low on her hips. It occurred to her that she’d never realised how athletic the other woman was. She was brought back from her thoughts by the sudden quiet as the noise of ball on bat stopped, she tried to look like she hadn’t been staring as Casey took her helmet off, shaking her hair out as she made her way towards Alex.

“Need to work out some stress?” Casey teased, a swagger in her step.

“Yes”, Alex conceded, “definitely.” She paused and took a deep breath, Casey was suddenly standing very close, “that’s not why I’m here though.”

“I know that tone”, said Casey as she propped her bat and helmet against the fencing, she took a quick glug of water from her waiting water bottle and swept her hand through her damp hair so she could see Alex properly.“Something’s happened with the warrant hasn’t it?” Alex nodded, watching the rapid rise and fall of Casey’s chest as she recovered from her athletic exertions.

“They’ve managed to get a temporary injunction, claiming we’re on a fishing expedition. There’s a hearing scheduled for later this week but Petrovsky is the judge.” Casey grimaced and turned so she could lean against the fence and face Alex,

“She really doesn’t like either of us”,

“Exactly my point’ Alex leaned her shoulder against the same fence Casey was resting against, “I have got to come up with a solid argument or this case is going to fall apart before it even gets going.”

Casey turned to look over her shoulder, giving Alex a characteristically cocky grin,“I’ll help you out”,

“Are you sure? You’ve got your own complicated case…” Alex tried to ignore the weird feeling in her stomach as she watched Casey stand and start to stretch her arms out, the light sheen of sweat highlighting just how strong the other woman was; maybe it was just because she skipped lunch.

“I’m sure, Garrett’s stalling for time whilst he desperately scrambles to find a zipper expert he can bribe.” Alex laughed and Casey started to set about packing up her things,

“A zipper expert?”

“Well what else would you call it?” asked Casey, dropping her kit bag to throw up her hands in exasperation,

“A garment fastening specialist? You can be sure Garrett is coming up with something more fancy sounding than ‘zipper expert’.”

“Well it’s lucky for you he’s taking his time about it,” Casey had finished packing her things and shouldered her duffel, “we need to get this warrant through”,

“You’re right”, Alex sighed and her shoulders slumped, “we should head back to the office”.

Casey looked down at her outfit then back at Alex in her professional well-tailored suit skirt and black overcoat,

“Can I change first? You might not have noticed whilst you were staring, but I’m kind of sweaty.”

Alex immediately felt herself blushing, “I wasn’t staring! And I wouldn’t have noticed anyway, this whole place smells like a high school locker room.”

“Did you actually enter a high school locker room?” Casey’s teasing helped Alex hide her embarrassment,

“Not if I could help it”, Alex admitted with a small smile,

“Well I’m not going back to the office without a shower, I planned to stop by my apartment, it’s not too far. You might as well come with me and you can fill me in on the way?”

***

Alex liked Casey’s apartment right away, it was light and seemed spacious for its size. There were little touches of Casey everywhere: running shoes heaped untidily by the door, photographs of her with her brothers, a couple of old sports trophies next to newspaper clippings that seemed to show smiling team photos. Everything from the very comfy looking couch with its untidy throw blanket to the half-drunk pot of coffee on the breakfast bar had something of Casey about it, the place seemed to feel at home with itself. Casey had apologised for the mess when they’d first stepped inside but Alex thought there was no need to, the messiest feature of the room being the coffee table piled high with papers and law books.

“Make yourself at home”, Casey had joked as she dumped her batting gear in the small hall closet before kicking off her sneakers, leaving them next to the heap of running shoes, she had gestured to Alex to head into the apartment and waved her to the couch. Alex had sat down gently and started shuffling papers in her briefcase, looking for ones relevant to the warrant.

“I won’t be long”, said Casey, “help yourself to coffee or whatever, but please don’t try to cook, Liv told me about that time you set your stove on fire.” Alex shot her a glare as Casey disappeared into her room, within a few moments she heard the sound of the shower running. She tried hard to focus on her papers but found she was very distracted by the thought of Casey in the shower, water running over her toned shoulders… No. She was not allowed to think about Casey like that, it was a slippery slope, even if the attraction was purely physical. Because that’s all it was, Casey was an attractive woman after all, it wasn’t surprising that Alex should feel… something. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose wondering how she had gotten herself into this position.

She was so busy berating herself that she didn’t notice the water had stopped running and a few moments later she was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. Casey was leaning against the door frame in a fresh suit, a towel draped over her shoulders as she dried the ends of her hair, Alex found herself noticing how well the different outfit fit the redhead.,

“You ok?” Casey seemed a little concerned,

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” Alex tried, and failed, not to sound defensive,

“You just looked a little checked-out is all”, Casey smiled, tilting her head slightly, “come on, we should get going.”

Alex tried not to stand too close to Casey as she locked the door, but it was awkward in the narrow hallway. It was made even more awkward when a door a few apartments down swung open to reveal a man covered in paint,

“Hey”, he called, “is there a service elevator in here? There’s been a bit of a paint spillage and I don’t want to track it everywhere”, he grinned sheepishly at them as he wiped paint from his hands onto his overalls.

“Sorry, no…” Casey began, then she stopped, her eyes widened.

“Alex that’s it!” she said, grabbing the blonde’s arm,

“What’s it?”

“The service elevator, no wonder no one noticed them… we’ve got to get to the precinct, we might not need the evidence from the fraud squad to get this warrant after all.” She practically dragged Alex towards the elevator.

“Hey!” the workman called after them, “so how do I get out of here?”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit more plot-heavy but I can assure you that the next two chapters are super fluffy!

**13.**

Alex couldn’t help but smirk as she watched Casey storm across the squad room towards Liv, she was quite something to see when she was on a mission.

“Did you check the CCTV from the service elevator?” Casey asked, slightly out of breath as she came to stop at Liv’s desk. She braced her arms on the edge of the detective’s busy desk and locked her intense eyes with the slightly startled brunette who was still sat in her chair.

“What?” asked Liv, shooting a perplexed glance towards Alex, then looking back at Casey who hadn’t moved, and then back to Alex who was still stood there with the remnants of her smirk still evident.

Casey hit her hands against the desk edge to get Liv’s focus back on her: “The Cartelli apartment, it’s expensive, there must be a service elevator in that block”, she insisted. A look of understanding crossed Liv’s face and she swung her chair so she was facing the redhead,

“There is, but it doesn’t have CCTV.” Casey sighed in frustration at the revelation and twisted away in frustration,

“Well what about the back door?” she turned back to Liv still hopeful.

“No CCTV there either”, Liv said slowly as her thoughts raced ahead of her, “but it does open on to a break room for the maintenance staff… are you thinking the boys got out that way?”

“They must’ve done” Casey insisted, gesturing for Liv to stand up and striding towards the interview room which housed the evidence board. Liv followed closely behind her, pausing to hold the door for Alex,

“They would’ve been too noticeable”, the detective insisted, not quite sure what had gotten into the ADA, “Fin interviewed the night staff and none of them saw anyone who looked like they didn’t belong.”

“What if they looked like they did belong?” stated Casey, her eyes were frantically scanning the evidence board as the other two women shared a look as they stood behind her. “There!” she exclaimed, jabbing her finger towards a photo of the three suspects on their volunteering project. Liv moved closer to look over Casey’s shoulder to see it more clearly.

“They’re wearing overalls”, Liv murmured, as it became clear what Casey was getting at. Alex’s eyes widened in turn,

“And they’re green”, she approached the board herself and found herself standing close to Casey as she took in the details of the picture of the three boys with grinning in front of a building, a large banner behind them announcing the project renovating it into a library. “The colour looks just like the fibre Warner found in the victim’s throat.” She leaned past a turning Casey to pick up a close-up photo of the fibre for comparison, only having to turn it slightly so Casey could see it. As the redhead compared the two images Alex suddenly noticed just how far into Casey’s space she was stood.

“So the boys got out using the service elevator”, said Liv bringing Alex’s attention back to the case in hand, “but how did they get back in?”

“What do you mean?” Casey asked turning a little breathlessly from Alex to face Liv, still caught up in the excitement of having made a break in the case.

“Well maintenance guys leaving in the evening, there’s nothing suspicious about that, but coming in late at night covered in blood? That would raise some eyebrows.” Casey’s face fell,

“Shit, you’re right”, she muttered, deflated. Liv gave a small gentle chuckle as the redhead’s shoulders drooped almost comically,

“We can’t all be detectives”, she gave Casey a genuine smile as Alex grinned lightly at the joke. Liv turned to the part of the board where the timeline was laid out, tracing along the known timings that they had.

“You could still be right about how they got out, they might have ditched the overalls or waited until the break room was empty.”

“Either way it’s enough for a warrant to look for the overalls”, Alex said smiling encouragingly and laying a hand on Casey’s arm to reassure her of their progress.

“What if Liv is right and they ditched them?” Casey shot Alex an anxious look,

“They probably order them for the project in bulk batches, we could always try get a warrant for some belonging to another volunteer”,

“That’s a gamble”, Casey admitted, nodding slowly, “but if they do still have the overalls it’ll certainly help our case. Do you have the witness statements from the night staff? We might need to re-interview them to get more details.”

Liv rubbed her hand over her face and through her hair as she thought through their next steps, “ Yeah, Fin should still have them”,

“Great”, replied Casey, immediately striding out of the room to find Fin as quickly as she could. Alex and Olivia just stood for a moment in her wake.

“So”, said Liv, turning to face Alex, a glint of mischief in her eyes, “why is Casey’s hair wet?”

“It’s not wet”, Alex protested awkwardly, quickly swallowing as she felt her cheeks involuntarily flush, “it’s damp at most ”. Liv raised her eyebrows incredulously as Alex uncharacteristically floundered,

“Uh-huh?”

“She needed to take a shower”, Alex explained, Liv’s eyebrows went even higher, a knowing smile breaking across her features,

“You’re terrible!” scolded Alex, swatting playfully at the detective’s arm, earning a short laugh, “I needed help with the warrant so I went and found her at the batting cages, she needed to shower before heading back to the office.”

“And you went with her?” Liv refused to stop teasing Alex just yet.

“Yeah I filled her in on the case on the walk back to her apartment.”

Liv hummed knowingly and Alex glared at her, “I’m surprised you knew where to find the batting cages actually”, Liv went on,

“Yeah I had to ask Cragen”, Alex admitted with a small smile, “before he rushed off again.” Her brow knitted with concern at the Captain’s unusual behaviour

“He’s been doing that a lot lately”, Liv mused, “El followed him once but he hasn’t told me anything.” Alex turned to face the detective, concern now evident,

“You don’t think he’s drinking again?” she asked quietly.

“I’m sure he’s not”, said Liv, shaking her head, “we would’ve noticed.” Alex nodded, accepting the truth to Liv’s statement.

“I should go find Casey”, said Alex, breaking the quiet silence that had fallen between them,

“Yes, go out there and get your girl”, smirked Liv. Alex shot a parting glare at the teasing detective as she left the room but couldn’t help feeling her heart skip at the thought of Casey being hers.

***

She found Casey sat on the edge of Fin’s desk leafing through papers as the perplexed detective sat back and watched.

“Could you at least try and keep pages from the same statements together?” a disgruntled Fin protested as a piece of paper drifted to the floor. Casey simply hummed in response and continued to scan through the statement she was holding. Alex sidled over and knelt to pick up the fallen sheet, handing it to Fin who gave a silent gesture of acknowledgement. He sighed and began to read it,

“Hey Casey, I think Alex just found what you’re looking for”, he said, looking up from the sheet,

Casey looked up and was startled to find Alex stood close by once more, “When did you get here?” Casey asked, perhaps focusing on the wrong bit of what Fin had said,

“Just now, when I saw you ransacking Detective Tutuola’s desk”, said Alex, raising an eyebrow and cocking her head to the mess of papers that Casey was now surrounded by,

“And it looks like whilst you were running round causing havoc I managed to crack the case”, she grinned as Casey’s confusion was overtaken by her focus on the bit of paper now in Fin’s hands.

“Is there something in that statement?” Casey asked not rising to Alex’s bait but instead making a grabby motion with her hand for the statement.

“Yeah”, said Fin confidently, “When being asked if all the staff who were working that night had been interviewed, the night supervisor says there were independent contractors doing some remodelling, he remembers there being three guys in green overalls who left around 10pm. Says that’s unusual for them to be there so late, but they must’ve just been painting or something because there weren’t any noise complaints.”

“And no one flagged this up before?” Casey asked as her eyes scanned over the statement, confirming what Fin was saying.

“It didn’t seem weird when we were looking for witnesses going in and out of the building” defended Fin. Casey sighed and placed the remaining papers on the desk, she crossed her arms,

“You’re right”, she said, “but this is more than enough evidence for an arrest.” She looked up triumphantly to Alex who nodded thoughtfully,

“We should head back to the office, we need this warrant to be solid.”

“Can you make sure to call us when you’re going to make the arrest?” Casey asked turning to the bemused detective taking stock of the state of all his notes as they were now scattered across his desk,

“Sure”, said Fin responded with a shrug.

“You’ll only need to call one of them Fin, they seem to be joined at the hip anyway”, the comment came from Liv who had made her way across the squad room towards them.

“We are not!” Casey protested indignantly, but then realised her response had perhaps a little too forceful because she only earned yet another smirk from Liv and a teasing eyebrow raise from Fin in return. Alex remained bashfully silent on the matter as she gathered her things to leave the precinct.


	14. Chapter 14

**14.**

Casey stretched out her arms and groaned, swinging her stockinged feet off of the couch in Alex’s office and on to the floor.

“What’s up?” asked Alex, half-amused; she was sitting behind her desk, peering at Casey over the top of her signature glasses.

“I left one of the witness statements for the Moran case in my office”, Casey kept her eyes closed as she tiredly tried to ease the crick in her neck.

“You know that wouldn’t happen if you actually worked on it in your own office” Alex teased, putting her own pen down and sitting back to watch the redhead lawyer in front of her.

“Your office is bigger!” Casey protested light heartedly, “and besides, I work better when I can switch between tasks.” Casey threw her hands up animatedly, “You’d find me even more annoying if I had to come in and out of your office every fifteen minutes because I was back working the Cartelli case.”

It was a few weeks since Alec Cartelli and friends had been arrested for the murder of Amelia Santos and the two ADAs were swamped in warrants, motions and trial prep, notwithstanding their other cases. In fact, they’d been in and out of each other’s offices so much Casey had practically moved in to Alex’s; laying claim to the couch and occasionally providing home-cooked food, but more often reminding Alex to eat at reasonable times by ordering take-out for them to share. 

“I suppose I’ve shared offices with more annoying people” mused Alex thoughtfully, knowing it would get a rise from Casey and already smiling to herself as the redhead protested,

“I’m a delight to share an office with”, said Casey pointing a stern finger at Alex as she stood u. She could swear she felt Alex’s eyes as they swept up and down her body as she stretched out her back.

“Uh-huh” Alex replied distractedly, flicking her eyes back down to her paperwork and shuffling a few pages about to try cover up the fact she’d almost got caught checking out her colleague. She cleared her throat,“So what are we having for dinner tonight then?” It was a pretty normal question now they were spending so much time together but Casey couldn’t help but chuckle,

“Seeing as I’m such a delightful office-mate I’ll buy you pizza”

“You didn’t cook?” Alex pretended to be disappointed,

“In case you haven’t noticed I’ve barely had enough time to sleep and shower in my own apartment before I have to come back to the office right now”, Casey complained. Alex gave her a sympathetic look and leaned forward, resting her head on her hand momentarily,,

“We didn’t take this job for the work-life balance though did we?”, she leaned back in her chair with a small sigh.

“Ain’t that the truth”, Casey replied quietly as she stared tiredly at the bookcases that lined the wall opposite her. Coming back to herself Casey decided to try summon the energy to head for the door to get to her own office,but was stopped in her tracks when someone knocked on it. She glanced to Alex,

The tall blonde righted herself and felt herself adopt her professional façade,“Come in”she called authoritatively. The door swung open and the two women were surprised to see Captain Cragen standing there with a slight hesitance,

“Good evening Counsellors,” he acknowledged them both,

“What can we do for you Captain?” enquired Casey, unused to having him visit the DA’s office in person.

“I just came to see if you had the forensics report from the independent experts that the defence insisted on.”

“The one for the Cartelli case?” asked Alex, leafing through papers on her desk,

“Yeah,” the Captain moved into the middle of the office so the door could fully close behind him, “We’re trying to trace the knife but if they’ve managed to get someone to say the one we found in the Cartelli boy’s overalls doesn’t match the injuries then it’s a waste of everyone’s time…”

Casey let her mind drift back to the search of the boys’ homes before they were arrested. Alec’s green volunteer overalls had been found wrapped around a knife which looked like it could match the wounds on Amelia Santos, but the overalls themselves had come back mostly clean save for a few traces of blood in one of the pockets. Just thinking about what the little girl must have gone through made Casey feel sick to her stomach.

“Got it!” her train of thought was interrupted by Alex finally producing the report Cragen had requested and starting to flip through it, a frown of concentration forming as she ran through the findings. Casey couldn’t help but smile to herself at the sight, she had been surprised when she started working so closely with Alex to find the blonde’s paperwork was not nearly as organised as she had first expected. Alex, finally content that she had read it all correctly, offered up the relevant page to the Captain,

“Thanks”, Cragen replied as he took the piece of paper,

“How come you’re picking it up anyway? We could’ve just faxed it over”, Casey asked.

“Oh I was just passing by and thought it would be quicker”, Cragen replied as he folded the report carefully to put it his inner jacket pocket. Casey saw the experienced Captain’s eyes travel towards the couch, taking in the details which showed Casey had clearly made herself at home there. She could follow as Cragen’s gaze traced the path of the couch and settled on Casey’s chipped mug, complete with softball motif, resting on the corner of Alex’s desk. That there was a coaster under it told him that it must be there with some regularity.

“It’s good to see you two working so closely together” he finally offered not unkindly. Casey felt herself blushing under the scrutiny and looked towards Alex who had leant back in her chair, exuding a kind of cockiness that Casey found pretty irresistible.

“Casey’s a very good lawyer, we were lucky to get her back”, Alex stated in her best courtroom voice. Casey blushed harder, a small shiver running up her spine, she couldn’t fail to notice the hint of a smile curling at the corner of Alex’s mouth. The blonde was enjoying winding her up. A quiet silence descended as the two women looked at each other, an unspoken challenge rested in Alex’s gaze that was causing Casey to flounder slightly.

“Didn’t you need to get something from your office Casey?”, Alex finally took pity on the younger woman’s struggle.

“Yes”, Casey came back to the room with a start and she stuttered slightly as she tried to keep her composure, “I’ll see you later Alex, Captain Cragen”, she said nodding to them both as she got out of the room as quickly as she could.

***

“You got one too, huh?” Alex looked up from her desk to the now familiar and welcome sight of Casey leaning in the doorway, waving an easily recognisable piece of blue paper in her hand. It had been another few weeks since the arrest of the three young men, but it still felt as though they were no closer to the trial actually starting. That date looked to be even moving even further away as she glanced down at yet another motion which was currently in her hands.

“Yeah, it’s the Cartelli case of course, what’s yours?” Alex responded with a light sigh before gesturing towards the motion in Casey’s hand, beckoning the other lawyer to come in.

“Grease weasel again” Casey exhaled as she pushed off the door frame, walking into the room and dramatically throwing herself down on the couch. Alex couldn’t help but chortle at the redheads’ antics. Casey refused to lift her head from the cushions for a few moments, before turning her with a small huff, “Now he’s stalling proceedings because he wants a third opinion on the dash cam evidence’s authenticity.”

“Well the longer the trial lasts, the more he gets paid”,

“I know,” Casey flipped herself round on the couch to stare at the ceiling, Alex felt her stomach drop, not unpleasantly, at the motion and comfortable tousled look Casey now exuded. Realising the other lawyer was talking again Alex tried her best to regain focus: “I wish I knew where the money was coming from.” Casey complained with a wave of her hand, unaware of Alex’s distraction. She propped herself up on one arm to take in the blonde, “What’s the problem with the Cartelli case then?”

“They’re trying to get the charges dropped on lack of evidence.”

“Ah yes, because the victim’s blood on the accused’s clothing isn’t exactly damning” said Casey, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Apparently it’s fruit of the poisonous tree”, Alex’s arched her eyebrow in disdain at the line of argument they’d taken. “The defence lawyers are insisting we only went after the boys because we found the description of the crime on Cartelli’s laptop.”

“I thought police were alerted to the blog post and traced it back to Cartelli? So suspicion fell on him before the laptop entered evidence?” Casey’s nose had scrunched lightly as she thought back over the details.

“That’s what I’m going to argue”, said Alex with a nod, “but because we can’t use the laptop we can’t prove he wasn’t hacked. I’m worried if we catch the judge on a bad day that might count against us.”

Casey caught and held Alex’s gaze as she gave a small smile; “Looks like we’re in for a long night whilst we get this argument sorted then.” Alex was pleased that Casey offered her support without being pushed.

“Sounds good Novak, I’ll get the coffee if you sort the food? Deal?”

Casey smiled to herself as Alex set about automatically clearing space for them to work together, happy that Alex seemed to welcome her input so easily, “You got yourself a deal there Counsellor, Thai or Indian tonight then?”


	15. Chapter 15

**15.**

Casey awoke to the sound of screaming. Still groggy, it took her a moment to realise where she was – Alex’s office. Alex. That was who was screaming. Casey rolled clumsily off the couch and blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dim light pouring through the window, she quickly caught sight of Alex hunched over her desk. Without thinking, Casey immediately rushed over to her,

“Alex, Alex, are you ok?” she asked, gently reaching out to touch the other woman’s shoulder. She felt Alex stiffen and then relax beneath her touch. The blonde mumbled a little then opened her eyes,

“Casey?” she whispered, her voice hoarse, her blue eyes were bleary as they quickly flitted about her surroundings, “What?”

“Are you ok? You were screaming.” Casey didn’t even realise she was reaching out to tuck a strand of Alex’s blonde hair away from her face until her fingertips gently brushed against her brow. The comforting touch elicited a light hum from Alex, still drowsy from her sleep.

“Hmm? What time is it?” Casey knelt lower to take the pressure off her knees and looked away from Alex to squint at her watch through the gloom,

“Quarter to four.” Alex groaned deeply and leaned back in her chair, Casey winced as she heard Alex’s spine crack and pop as she unfurled herself. Even to Casey’s self-admittedly biased eyes Alex looked rough, her usually neat hair was damp with sweat and clinging to her forehead, her eyes bloodshot.

“Sorry”, she said quietly, looking away from Casey, whose concern was evident. Alex tried to clear her throat to ease the dryness brought on by sleep and screaming, “I still get nightmares after what happened. I hadn’t had one in a while, stress brings them on I guess.” She quietly confessed as her gaze wandered across the familiar surroundings to ground herself, even as her hands trembled where she gripped the desk tightly. Casey looked down and saw despite her best efforts Alex was noticeably shaking,

“Hey it’s ok”, she said gently, brushing the same erstwhile strand of hair from earlier off of Alex’s face once again, tucking it more firmly behind her ear the second time now she knew her touch wasn’t unwelcome. Swallowing lightly Casey leaned up slightly to lightly hold Alex, moving slowly but purposefully so the blonde had time to protest if she wanted to. Casey was surprised when the blonde immediately leaned gratefully into the embrace, lifting her own arms to wrap around Casey to hold her tighter, tucking her head into the redhead’s strong shoulders and just breathing gently.

After what seemed like an age Casey cleared her throat gently so they could move apart, internally wishing her legs would’ve been stronger to hold her slightly awkward position for as long as Alex needed. “I’m gonna get the lamp ok?” said Casey gently, reaching back over Alex to switch on the green banker’s desk lamp and to ease the ache in her knees. A gentle yellow light illuminated the room. Casey was struck by how pale and washed out it made Alex look.

“You need some sleep”, she said gently, reaching out to gently hold Alex’s hand, her thumb automatically running comfortingly across the slightly chilled knuckles. Alex shook her head sadly,

“There’s no point going home at this time, I need to be in early tomorrow. I have a suit here” she waved behind with her free hand, “I’ll just change in the morning.”

“At least try to rest, you should sleep on the couch. I can assure you it’s pretty comfy.” Casey’s concern was clearly painted across her features, the light frown accentuated by the dark shadows in the room. Her words raised a small smile on Alex’s lips,

“And where are you going to sleep exactly? You don’t really have time to go home either,” she pointed out. She finally took her hand from Casey’s comforting ministrations so she could rub both of her palms across her face, her fingers tiredly rubbing at her temples in a reflexive move. Casey felt herself ache in how exhausted Alex looked.

“I’ll sleep in the chair or on the floor, seriously Alex I’m not joking you need to rest.” Casey tried to instil some of her courtroom steel into her voice.

“So do you.” Alex’s own tone rose to match Casey, making the redhead sigh to herself, Alex Cabot – always ready to argue.

“You’re shivering”, Casey finally pointed out, “Come on, I’ve got a clean t-shirt and some sweatpants in my gym bag, you should change, you’ll rest better then.”

“You’re lucky I’m too tired to protest much”, said Alex, but the hint of a smile twitched at the corner of her mouth as Casey shot her a disbelieving look. Alex found Casey’s protectiveness very sweet, and allowed herself to enjoy the comfort it was providing her after her nightmare.

“Ok, I’ll go get my bag”, said Casey, laying her hand lightly on Alex’s arm once more, “Will you be ok for a minute or so?”

“Yes”, said Alex assuredly. Casey let go of her arm and turned to leave, just as she was slipping out the door she heard Alex speak again causing her to turn and pause against the door frame, “Case?”

“Yeah?”

“We’re sharing the couch.” Casey knew from Alex’s tone there was no point arguing, so continued on her way,

“Okay, but no funny business Cabot, I’m warning you”, she called over her shoulder. She was rewarded with the sound of Alex’s sparkling laugh following her down the corridor.

Half an hour later Casey found herself firmly wedged between the back of the couch and a sleeping Alex Cabot, dressed in her old softball sweater and sweatpants. It had been awkward at first, as they tried to manoeuvre themselves into comfortable positions, but they were both too tired to really think about it and so Casey had ended up lying on her side with one arm under Alex’s pillow and the other wrapped Alex’s waist. Alex had wriggled closer to her and Casey could smell her own washing powder on the clothes the blonde was wearing, along with a faint scent of Alex’s perfume. The combination causing the redhead’s head to spin lightly. Alex had fallen asleep quickly and Casey could tell as her body relaxed even further against her own and Alex’s breathing slowed . It wasn’t too long after that Casey found her own eyes fluttering shut and, almost without thinking, she pressed a light kiss to the top of Alex’s head before drifting off to sleep.

***

Alex felt the pain in her shoulder as soon as she woke up. It was always worse after a nightmare, but sleeping on the couch couldn’t have helped. Still, she’d slept peacefully and at least felt a little more refreshed. She shifted slightly, trying to take pressure off her shoulder, revelling in the softness and the comforting scent of Casey’s old sweater. The movement woke Casey slightly, she let out a sleepy groan and tried to bury her head in Alex’s shoulder. Alex turned again so she was resting on her back, pushing Casey further into the back of the couch and causing her to open her eyes. The redhead smiled sleepily,

“Hey you,” she said, her voice thick with sleep, “Did you sleep ok?” Alex returned the sleepy smile and nodded, “See I told you the couch was comfy.”

“We should get moving”, said Alex reluctantly, enjoying the shared warmth and feeling of Casey’s arm still wrapped around her waist. Casey nodded whilst yawning deeply, stretching her arms out awkwardly behind them to avoid swiping Alex, not realising the motion caused her crumpled shirt to rise.

“Do you want to shower?” Alex was taken aback by Casey’s question, her tired mind still focusing on the accidental showing of Casey stomach. Swallowing lightly Alex refocused back on the question realising Casey was still awaiting a response, “There’s a shower here?”

“Yeah they put it in to encourage us to run or cycle to work. That’s what they said at least, secretly I think it’s to give us one less excuse to go home. Like having an office with a couch…” Alex snorted in amusement,

“Well it worked, I think I’ll just get changed, I don’t have a towel or anything anyway.”

“I have a clean one in my gym bag”

“What don’t you have in your gym bag?” Alex teased,

“Breakfast”, replied Casey, her stomach agreeing loudly, “So you stay here, get changed, shower, whatever, and I’ll head out and get us something to eat, and coffee of course.” Alex couldn’t help but smile at Casey going to such lengths for her,

“You really are a delight to share an office with, aren’t you?”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked Chapter 15, you're going to absolutely love Chapter 17... in the meantime please enjoy some actual plot with fluff :)

**16.**

They were just finishing up breakfast when they got the call. It was Alex’s phone which rang, she drained the last mouthful of coffee and answered it as Casey continued to tuck into her breakfast bagel,

“Cabot,”

“Hey Alex, I need to talk to you. It’s serious”, Liv’s familiar voice came through the phone, “Don’t say anything, just get the files for the Cartelli case and meet me at your favourite coffee place in half an hour. Is Casey at the office yet?” Alex glanced over at the redhead and swallowed lightly, of course Casey was here, neither of them had left last night… “Alex?”

“Sorry, yeah she just got here”, Alex wasn’t sure why she felt the need to lie, Casey raised a questioning eyebrow at her, mouth still full of food.

“Bring her with you, same instructions. I have to go now but I’ll see you in half an hour, say you’re heading out but don’t tell anyone where you’re going.” Alex hung up the call and turned to Casey,

“We need to go get some coffee”, she said, scooping up the files from her desk. Casey glanced quizzically at the recently drained cup sat on the desk in front of her,

“We just had coffee, I know you didn’t sleep too well but that was pretty strong…”

“Casey, please. I think we’ll work better somewhere else,” it was clear from Alex’s tone that there was something she wasn’t sharing, “Are all your files in here?” she asked, waving the Cartelli file so Casey knew which files she meant,

“Yeah, they’re here”, Casey had taken the hint but was still totally bewildered as she picked up a stack of files from next to the desk.

“Come on then”, said Alex smiling, “It’s not like you to turn down coffee.”

***

Liv was already waiting for them by the time they reached the coffee shop, she waved nervously at them from a table,

“I already got your coffee orders in,” said the detective, gesturing towards three steaming cups in front of her, “Extra foam for you counsellor…” she added, smiling at Casey.

“What’s this about? Why all the secrecy?” asked the redhead, shrugging off her coat, wincing as it twisted her shoulder awkwardly, before hanging it on the back of the chair. Maybe she was too old to be sleeping on couches. She glanced over at Alex, who was struggling with her own coat. Casey felt a twinge of guilt as Alex attempted to stretch out her shoulder, figuring that however much her own hurt Alex’s must hurt worse, she probably had lasting problems from being shot in it.

“Alex didn’t fill you in on the way over?” asked Liv, watching them both carefully as Casey with some concern obvious on her face reached over to help free Alex from her coat and then placed it on her chair for her.

“You didn’t exactly give me much information either”, said the blonde, looking at Liv over the top of her glasses and sitting down. Liv looked from side to side as the two ADAs got settled and simultaneously began sipping their coffees.

“I had to get you out of the office,” Liv replied shifting closer she lowered her voice to just above a whisper, “There’s been a leak.” A moments’ silence passed between the women, with Alex and Casey sharing a look.

“That doesn’t mean it’s from our office,” Alex said carefully, reaching up and rubbing her temple, hoping she didn’t look as exhausted as she felt. “We’ve turned all the evidence over to the defence, they could easily have leaked something to try sway public opinion in their favour.”

“The defence wouldn’t leak details about a knife matching the victims wounds,”countered Liv, leaning back in her chair and sighing tiredly.

“Who would leak that?” asked Casey eyes flicking to Alex’s once more, surprised by Liv’s revelation.

“It has to be someone in our office, or yours”, Liv continued to look around the coffee shop for any familiar faces, just in case.

“Or someone from the defence team that thinks the boys are guilty and doesn’t want them to walk”, said Alex thoughtfully, she’d crossed her legs and her raised foot was bouncing lightly as she tried to think through this current development.

“Either way,” said Liv shrugging lightly, “We need to sweep your office for bugs, we’re doing background on recently hired staff… there’s things we can’t risk getting out.”

“Like the laptop going missing,” said Casey, who despite her best attempts was now sporting a trace of a foam moustache, “If it’s not admissible as evidence in court there’s no reason to make it public record.”

“I wish it was admissible,” said Alex softly, staring into her coffee cup. Casey and Liv shared a glance, Liv gave a small chuckle at the sight of Casey’s upper lip. The noise drew Alex’s attention back to them,

“Can’t take you anywhere, can I Casey?” she smiled gesturing towards Casey’s moustache.

“I actually tried really hard to avoid this”, said Casey as she wiped it off, drawing more laughter from the two women.

“What are we going to do if we can’t go back to the office today?” the blonde asked eventually.

“Maybe you should work from home, get some rest”, Casey’s voice was soft, concerned. Liv looked from one to the other,

“Casey’s right Al, you look tired, is your shoulder bothering you again?” Alex glanced sideways at Casey and noted the faint blush that was creeping into her cheeks.

“It’s a little stiff”, conceded Alex. They were saved from further interrogation by Liv’s phone buzzing. She picked it up and read the text message,

“Shit, I have to go, a victim’s girlfriend is looking for me back at the precinct,” she shuffled about, getting ready to leave. “Have a think and let me know if anyone unusual has been in your office recently, I’ll let you know when you’ve got the all clear to go back.” Her phone buzzed again as she turned to leave and she gave them a distracted wave goodbye. Casey looked down at her coffee, still half-full and decided she should stay and finish it.

“I guess I should head home once we’ve finished,” said Alex, echoing Casey’s thoughts, “You should come too, there’s no point me trying to work on the case by myself.”

“Okay if you’re sure?” agreed Casey with a confident nod, “We can work on the case but then I’m making sure you get a proper meal and a good night’s sleep, lights out by eleven.” She tried to fix Alex with a determined stare.

“I really look forward to your cooking, but I’m unconvinced anything can help me sleep well at this point,” said Alex smiling weakly.

“Well I’ll try”, said Casey, “You’ll sleep well even if I have to curl up outside your door.”

“What if I sleepwalk?” teased Alex, smiling at the image of Casey curled up asleep in her apartment,

“Then I’ll have to tie you to the bed”, Casey’s face immediately burned a deep red as she realised what she’d just implied. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded…” she stuttered looking everywhere but at the blonde next to her. Alex giggled, partly at Casey’s clumsiness and partly to disguise the thrill that had run down her spine at the mental image of Casey tying her up…

“Well if that’s what you have to do” said Alex playfully patting Casey on the knee to try reassure the embarrassed woman, “But at least take me out for dinner first.”

***

“It’s a good thing we stopped at the grocery store because you have literally no food in this place,” Casey was staring into Alex’s cavernous yet empty fridge as she got out the ingredients for dinner, “What do you even eat?” Casey turned to look Alex up and down in mock judgement before realising she actually was just checking her out, flustered by her own actions Casey busied herself with getting the food prep started.

“Take out mostly”, said Alex as she moved around Casey to fetch a glass for some water, “It’s not like I’m home enough to cook,” she tried to reason with the redhead.

“But look at this kitchen!” Casey had to admit she’d felt a little taken aback stepping into Alex’s apartment. It was much more than she’d ever be able to afford, complete with floor to ceiling glass windows which offered stunning views of the city’s skyline.

“I have to admit it’s underused…,” Alex paused to look around her apartment and the kitchen trying to see it from Casey’s perspective, “But, I’d probably set the whole thing on fire if I tried to cook too often.” Alex self-depreciation made Casey laugh,

“I can’t believe you have a kitchen like this and don’t cook”,

“Well that doesn’t matter since you’re here to cook in it now,” Alex fired back, smiling cheekily at Casey who looked right at home. A quick detour to the redhead’s apartment meant she’d been able to pack an overnight bag as well as some casual clothes, which meant Casey was clattering about the kitchen in sweatpants and a faded t-shirt. Alex felt a familiar fluttering in her stomach as she watched her. She had to work hard to suppress the almost overwhelming desire to get up and wrap her arms around Casey, to pull her close and place a kiss on the top of her head. The blonde smiled softly to herself, remembering how Casey had kissed her gently before falling asleep, a kiss she was almost sure Casey didn’t think she knew about.

“You don’t have any allergies right? I forgot to ask when we were buying groceries” Casey’s voice floated over the sound of her chopping onions,

“We’ve ordered takeout together how many times and this is the first time you thought to ask about allergies?” said Alex, knowing exactly how to wind Casey up.

“I’m just being a gracious hostess”, Casey replied,

“This is my apartment!” protested Alex, putting aside the case file she was holding, resigning herself to the fact she wasn’t getting any more work done. Casey just laughed and carried on chopping, “Do you want some wine?” Alex asked,

“Sure”, said Casey, she transferred something to the pan and the soft sound of sizzling rose up,

“Red or white?”

“We’re having chicken, so white.”

“I see you know what wine goes with what food”,

“And I didn’t even have to go to a finishing school”, said Casey playfully.

“I didn’t go to a finishing school”, said Alex, pouring the wine and handing Casey a glass. She leant against the countertop so she could be closer to Casey but still out of the way. She took a sip of her wine, enjoying the cool sweetness before continuing, “My high school offered etiquette lessons though.” Casey let out a loud laugh, shooting Alex a broad grin over her shoulder as she continued to stir the pan.

“Are you serious? You took etiquette lessons?”

“I said _offered_ , of course I didn’t take them, I had no need to.” Alex sassily pushed away from the counter and walked back to the table, maybe putting a little bit more swagger than necessary in her walk. Casey laughed again, the sound so genuine that it flooded Alex with such warmth that she couldn’t help but laugh along too.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's fic Friday! Hope you're all doing well, as usual your comments give me life. Quick warning, there's some smut coming up in this chapter. Enjoy.

**17.**

Casey shivered as Alex’s hand ghosted across her stomach and trailed down her bare thigh. The blonde hummed as she nuzzled into Casey’s neck, placing light kisses just beneath her ear. The action drew a contented sigh from Casey, she could feel Alex grin against her skin before intensifying her attentions, now nipping Casey’s pale and sensitive skin with her teeth before following the same trail with her tongue, running it soothingly over the marks she had left and making Casey moan deeply as her body writhed beneath the blonde, pressing against her wherever possible.

Casey felt the heat of Alex’s mouth travel lower, her soft lips lavishing attention on Casey’s prominent collar bone. The redhead slid a hand down Alex’s back, resting it on the swell of her ass and feeling the other woman smile against her skin in response. Alex stopped kissing her for a moment and raised her head, her blue eyes dark as they locked with Casey’s. She smiled mischievously and glanced at Casey’s chest, one of her elegant hands drifting teasingly down her sternum as she asked a wordless question. Casey nodded enthusiastically and earned a salacious smile as Alex dipped her head again and took Casey’s nipple in her mouth. A bolt of pleasure shot through Casey and she moaned, arching her back. Alex responded by flicking her tongue against Casey’s nipple and moving her hand to grip her hip tightly. Casey couldn’t help but buck under the blonde’s attention, so Alex pressed her hips down even harder. Casey luxuriated in the feeling of Alex’s expensive sheets; their soft texture against her skin, and how every time she moved her head she was surrounded by the unique scent of Alex.

“Oh my God Alex,” she moaned, revelling in the feel of the other woman’s mouth on her skin as the blonde kissed the underside of her breast,

“Yes darling?” Alex paused briefly, barely lifting her head so that her warm breath tickled Casey’s pebbled nipple. The term of endearment gave Casey just as many butterflies as the sensation did.

“I want…” Casey trailed off, distracted by the sight of the gorgeous woman on top of her, distracted by the weight of her, the softness of her skin, the feel of her nails gently grazing the skin of her hips.

“What do you want Casey? Tell me”, Alex’s voice had dropped lower, clearly the sound of Casey begging did something to her. Casey mumbled incoherently as Alex’s hand moved to brush her inner thigh, “Is this what you want? You want me to touch you?”

“Yes” Casey gasped breathily, relieved to be able to say anything at all,

“Yes what?” asked Alex, torturously circling her fingers between Casey’s legs. So close to where Casey wanted her.

“Are you seriously going to make me say please?” Casey’s breathing was heavy, her hands grasping at Alex’s shoulders, trying to pull her closer.

“I’m teaching you etiquette,” the blonde replied cheekily dragging out the final word as her fingers drummed out each torturous syllable on Casey’s inner thigh, her hooded eyes flashing with their characteristic snark. Alex then dipped her head again to press a kiss to Casey’s stomach, her fingers still hadn’t stopped their teasing motions and it was driving Casey mad. She tried to hold out but it was impossible, right now she would give Alex anything and everything she wanted,

“Please Alex, please, please touch me, I need to feel you”. The intensity of Casey’s keening request seemed to take Alex by surprise, and she immediately pressed her own hips into Casey’s thigh in response. Casey could feel how hot and wet the blonde was and could only whimper as her senses were overwhelmed, 

“Anything you want my darling”, Alex replied, much less in control of her breathing than she had seemed seconds before. She lightly stroked one finger between Casey’s folds, seeming to just take a moment to revel in Casey’s guttural reaction. Alex slid her finger back down, coating it in Casey’s wetness before stroking her again. She continued to tease, rubbing circles around Casey’s clit, applying slightly more pressure with each breathy moan that escaped Casey’s lips. Alex then lowered her head again to kiss every inch of Casey’s exposed skin that she could reach. Casey could feel that the kisses would leave marks but she was past caring about that, she could feel her body responding to Alex’s ministrations, knowing that the blonde must be able to feel how wet she was getting. She could feel Alex’s fingers speed up, the increasing stimulation causing deep shockwaves to ripple through her. The redhead could feel the pressure inside her building, and knew she was getting close,

“Are you going to come for me darling?” Alex panted breathlessly, the timbre of her voice low. The question tipped Casey over the edge, causing her muscles to clench as waves of pleasure washed over her, radiating from her clit where Alex’s fingers still pressed, refusing to still entirely. Her eyes closed as she reached her climax, desperately moving her hips against Alex’s hand trying to prolong the sensation.

As she started to come down, so the feeling of Alex’s fingers began to disappear, then the feeling of her body on top of her. The last thing to go was the lingering kiss Alex placed on her lips and then Casey was awake, alone in the darkness of Alex’s guest room.

She groaned quietly as the last of the intense dream faded, the sheets were still soft but she was too warm and flustered and ridiculously frustrated. Her heart was still racing and her throat felt dry from the orgasm she’d already had but it hadn’t relieved the burning desire that still flooded her system. She untangled herself from the sheets a little to try cool herself down, letting her head hit the pillow with another groan. Staring at the ceiling, just for a moment, she entertained the idea of taking care of herself, but tempting as that was she knew she couldn’t. Not here, in Alex’s apartment with the blonde sleeping just down the hall. That was without even considering whether it was okay to think about Alex whilst she touched herself. Reluctantly she pushed herself up to a sitting position, kicking off the last of the rumpled sheets and swinging her legs off the bed. Maybe a glass of very cold water would help.

As Casey padded into the kitchen, her pyjamas rumpled, red hair mussed, and fair skin still flushed, she was startled by the sight of Alex sitting at the breakfast bar, long exposed legs crossed over at the knee as she sipped from a mug of something whilst frowning in concentration at what seemed to be a crossword. The sight of the blonde made Casey’s heart race again and she felt a twinge of guilt as she couldn’t help running her eyes over the skin exposed by Alex’s short sleepwear. Her silent panic was interrupted when Alex sensed her presence and looked up with a soft smile,

“You couldn’t sleep either?” Alex asked sympathetically, placing her crossword down in front of her and readjusting her glasses, “Do you want some tea?” Casey shook her head hoping the motion would also clear the heady fog her dream had left her in. Realising Alex was still looking at her Casey cleared her throat and forced her body to start moving again,

“Just a glass of water”, she said finally, her voice far huskier than normal, she moved to get a glass from the cupboard and fill it at the sink,

“Is everything ok? The room isn’t uncomfortable…?” Casey could feel Alex’s gaze follow her and could feel her body, still thrumming from earlier, warming again under her scrutiny.

“No, no, the room is fine”, Casey reassured her, sitting down opposite her and focussing on wrapping her hands around the coolness of the glass to calm herself, “I just had a weird dream is all.” She shifted in the seat and couldn’t help but fidget with one of her hands tracing patterns on the countertop with the condensation the glass had left.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Alex’s blue eyes were full of concern as she lightly placed her hand over Casey’s, stilling the restless movement. Casey swallowed nervously,

“Not really. What about you, why are you awake? I’m supposed to be here to make sure you sleep”, said Casey with mock sternness, willing herself to calm down and act as normal as possible

“I told you, I’m not sure anything can make me sleep when I get like this”, Alex smiled sadly withdrawing her hand and taking a sip of her tea, “Maybe you needed to tie me up after all”, she joked.

Casey’s heart leapt into her mouth, nearly causing her to choke on thin air as her over-stimulated libido started providing images of such a scenario running unbidden across her mind. There was no way Alex could know what she was dreaming about, she was being ridiculous. Oh God, what if she talked in her sleep? Could Alex have heard?

“Maybe you should try the couch,”,quipped Casey eventually, studiously ignoring how low and raspy her voice came out, “You seemed to sleep ok on the one in your office.”

“Maybe that wasn’t the couch?” Alex mused looking at a point over Casey’s shoulder. There was something vulnerable in her eyes when they came back to look into Casey’s, “I do, I mean, I know I sleep better when I’m not on my own.” A light blush coloured her cheekbones at the admission.

“You want me to stay in your room?” The offer was out of Casey’s mouth before she had chance to think about it. Alex’s blush deepened starkly, the tips of her ears glowing red against her pale blonde hair as she glanced away,

“Yes, I think, I just need to sleep.” Alex’s head hung low as she stretched both of her arms out across the counter in front of her. Her tired acceptance of Casey’s offer was quickly followed by an earnest desire to reassure Casey , and her blue eyes snapped to Casey’s green as she straightened up,“But I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or…”

“No, no it’s ok, I mean there’s way more room in a bed than a couch”, said Casey, wincing at the awkwardness. Conversation between them had never been this awkward,

“I promise no funny business”, Alex had leaned forward with a conspiratorial smile, referencing back to the joke Casey had made the other night. The smile put Casey much more at ease. This was fine, she could do this.

“Damn it Cabot, that’s the only reason I agreed”, she laughed trying to break whatever lingering tension she had felt build up between them,

“You didn’t agree, you suggested it!” said Alex indignantly her right hand coming against the countertop to emphasise her point, a hint of her courtroom persona shining through. Casey consciously decided to ignore the new spike of mild arousal it caused her, locking away such thoughts as she knew her friend needed her. They both paused and smiled, the awkwardness gone almost as quickly as it had arrived.

“Shall we go then? It’s not like the night is getting any younger. ” asked Casey, inclining her head towards the door,

“Yeah,” said Alex, draining the last of her tea and standing up, “Thank you Casey.”


	18. Chapter 18

**18.**

When Alex woke up she was alone. Next to her the sheet was rumpled where Casey had slept but it had long since gone cold. She sighed and closed her eyes again, trying to hold on to the dwindling feeling of Casey’s arms around her as she slept. Eventually, she heard a clatter from the kitchen which encouraged her to get up, she stood up slowly, stretching out her shoulder with only a mild grimace, and quietly made her way towards the kitchen. She was greeted by the sight of Casey, hair slightly damp from the shower, singing to herself as she danced round the kitchen in her sweat pants and tank top making something that smelt absolutely delicious,

“Are you making pancakes?” Alex’s voice, although delighted, came out a little hoarse from having not quite woken up yet. Casey turned her head at the sound and grinned adorably, a little sheepish at having been caught dancing.

“Yeah, I found some syrup at the back of one of your cupboards and thought I’d treat you, there’s coffee in the pot” she added, tilting her head towards it as her hands were busy flipping the pancakes in the skillet. Alex slid into a seat at the breakfast bar and picked up the crossword she’d abandoned in the night. She tried to look over the clues once more but couldn’t focus on the words, her gaze kept drifting back to the beautiful redheaded woman fussing around her kitchen.

“Am I to expect this treatment every morning?” Alex asked cheekily leaning back lightly on the stool and crossing her legs, holding her coffee mug up to her chest to enjoy the warmth seeping through her hands as she watched Casey,

“Absolutely not.” Casey replied without turning round although she did acknowledge Alex with a wave of the spatula, “We’ll be back living in the office before you know it”,

“I’d better make the most of you now then”, said Alex, trying to inject a flirtatious tone into her words.

“Yes you had,”,said Casey, apparently oblivious as she switched off the stove and carried a tower of pancakes over to where Alex was sat. The blonde smiled at her and set about pouring them both more coffee. It was impossible to ignore how domestic it all seemed, how comfortable she felt in Casey’s presence even as she sat there in just her nightwear and thin dressing gown. She pushed away the thought that she wouldn’t mind waking up with Casey here every day. Thoughts like that were not going to make her day any easier.

“These pancakes are good,” said Casey contentedly, shovelling more than she probably should into her mouth in one go,

“Even if you do say so yourself?” teased Alex, unable to suppress a smile. Casey looked up at her, eyes bright with hair still slightly dishevelled from all the dancing, and just nodded vigorously, almost affronted even, deciding to continue to chew rather than verbalise her rebuttal. Smiling to stop herself from laughing at the redhead’s antics Alex picked up her cutlery to tuck into her own pancakes, determined to do so much more elegantly than Casey. However, as soon as the sweet taste of the first bite registered in her senses she couldn’t help but close her eyes and give a low satisfied moan. They really were good pancakes.

Her enjoyment was quickly interrupted by the sound of Casey coughing and spluttering across the table, her hand coming up to thump at her own chest as she gasped for breath, cheeks reddening deeply. Apparently something had caused her to choke on her breakfast.

“Are you ok?” said Alex, half laughing, half unsure whether she needed to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre, Casey really had been taking too big bites of the pancakes before in Alex’s opinion, it could very easily have led to this. She was reassured she wouldn’t have to call an ambulance as Casey finally reached out and gulped down some more coffee. She finally seemed to overcome whatever the issue was and look towards Alex, seeing the blonde still looking concerned Casey cleared her throat as best she could to speak,

“I’m fine”, she gasped, face red and voice raspy, trying to wave her hand nonchalantly even though it was clear she was still trying to get more air into her lungs, “Just went down the wrong way.”

“Well if you will put so much in your mouth…” she saw Casey open her mouth to protest, and then close it again with a click, obviously thinking that her defence might give away more than she was willing to.

“That’s not usually a problem for me”, Casey got out eventually, still looking a little red in the face.

“Mmm-hmm?” hummed Alex, raising an eyebrow as she continued to take delicate bites of her own breakfast, “So what’s the plan for today, do you have anything pressing other than the Cartelli case?”

Before Casey could reply her phone rang, Alex saw her brows knit at the withheld caller ID but ultimately moved to accept the call. Alex stopped eating, her hands pausing with the cutlery suspended in the air as Casey answered the phone, she couldn’t hear who was on the other end but the increasingly concerned look on Casey’s face told her the news wasn’t good,

“It’s ok, just calm down… it’s probably a filing error or something… no, I know, I’ll be right there, don’t say anything to anyone.” Casey hung up the phone and looked at Alex grimly. The older ADA’s curiosity at whatever this new development could be was clear. Casey took in a deep breath,

“Dani’s been arrested again,” she said simply. Alex’s brow creased, she finally put her cutlery down onto the plate and pushed it away from her slightly, her appetite vanishing almost instantly,

“What’s she done now?” She didn’t mean for her words to come out with such distain, immediately she saw Casey bristle and her posture become more defensive,

“Nothing! Well, nothing new apparently, they’ve arrested her for evidence tampering over the laptop.”

“Who’s arrested her?” Alex was genuinely annoyed now, “She’s down as a key witness for us, not facing charges on the laptop was part of her deal for testifying.”

“It wasn’t our detectives, she’s at the Brooklyn SVU, you know the unit we have the worst possible relationship with.” Casey’s frustration was visible as she got up and started barrelling around the apartment trying to get her things together, half-finished pancakes now long forgotten.

Casey was frantically shuffling papers about on the dining table when Alex walked finally caught up with her. She reached out and gently placed her hand on Casey’s arm to still her frantic movements,

“You can’t just go rushing over there Casey, it will look too suspicious”,

“Oh for god’s sake Alex!” Casey rounded on her, shaking off her hand her green eyes flashing angrily, “How many times do I have to say it? There’s nothing going on between us, I’m not compromised.” Alex closed her eyes and took a deep breath, jaw tensing as she tried so very hard not to snap back at the other woman,

“I know that Case, I do”, she said reassuringly, trying to get the irate redhead to see she was attempting to be as reasonable as possible and not escalate their disagreement.

“But we have to think about how it looks to other people, you know how careful we have to be with this case, the people we’re dealing with don’t play fair.” The slight edge in Alex’s voice seemed to chastise Casey slightly,

“You’re right”, she sighed deflating slightly, “I just don’t know what to do, if they’re going after Dani what’s to stop them going after everyone I care about? What’s to stop them going after…” she managed to stop herself before she finished that sentence. Her eyes locked with Alex’s for a moment before she glanced away, shifting awkwardly on her feet,

“No one is going after you Casey.” Alex reached out to touch her arm again so the younger woman would see she was being earnest, but the redhead shrugged out of it, turning away dejectedly as she looked at the spread of papers on the table in front of her,

“We don’t know that, you said it yourself they don’t play fair and we both know I’m the weakest link in this, I’m the one who’s integrity is in doubt. If I was them, I’d target me.” Casey refused to meet Alex’s gaze as she paced around, annoyance and frustration evident in every step. She finally flopped dispiritedly, back down in her seat at the breakfast bar, tired from her outburst. Alex walked over to her again, wedging herself against the counter and the other woman’s’ legs, she placed her hands on Casey’s pale shoulders this time. She decided to ignore how touching the smooth skin made her heart stutter and focus on the vulnerability that Casey had shown her instead.

“Look at me Casey,”, she said firmly, her thumbs lightly running along the redheads collarbones in, what she hoped, was a soothing motion. Casey did not have it in her to refuse the request and her green eyes locked with Alex’s steely blues, “You are not a weak link, you are an excellent lawyer and if anyone is trying to challenge that then more fool them. They might underestimate you, but I don’t. We are going to win this case together, I can’t do it without you and honestly I wouldn’t want to.” Casey closed her eyes, the intense sincerity and belief in the blonde had in her was simply overwhelming in that moment so she just gave into her instincts and gently leant forward to rest her forehead against Alex’s,

“Thank you”, she breathed, she opened her eyes slowly and was suddenly too aware of how close their faces were, making her swallow quietly, “But we do need to do something about Dani, arresting her just looks like an attempt to sabotage our case.”

“You’re right,” sighed Alex, pulling away reluctantly, hoping her blush wasn’t as prominent as it felt to her. Her hands were still resting on Casey’s shoulders, her thumbs still absentmindedly soothing over the exposed skin as the blonde ADA thought through their current predicament.

“But you can’t be the one to go, I’ll go. It’s my case and she’s my witness so no one will be able to suggest there’s anything untoward going on.” Casey nodded slowly, the pressure of Alex’s hands had managed to ground her from her prior outburst of self-doubt. Even though she now missed the contact she was suitably soothed to see the merit to Alex’s plan,

“You’re right, that is the best way. I’ve got some motions to deal with from the Moran case anyway so I can get on with that.”

“You can stay here if you like,” said Alex gently, “Then we can try and sort out what’s gone on when I get back.”

“Thanks, that would be easier than going home, will you call me as soon as you can?” Casey was still looking up at the taller woman who was leaning against the breakfast bar,

“Of course” Alex smiled, having to stop herself from reaching out to flatten some of Casey’s tousled hair, “I just need to take a shower and get ready then I’ll head straight out.” Alex gave a quick smirk as she moved away from their shared space, “Plus, you still need to finish your pancakes, try not to choke on them this time though.”

Casey rolled her eyes at the teasing, “I’ll even do the dishes”, she gave Alex her best ingratiating smile,

“Hmm, so you’re a delight to share an apartment with too?” Alex teased once more as she brought her own plate over to the sink. Casey could only laugh in an attempt to disguise the warm feeling that had settled in her lower stomach,

“You didn’t already realise that when you woke up to pancakes?”


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so there might be a bit of angst coming up... but not a lot, like just hang on for a chapter or two I've tried to keep it light and I'm so soft for these two I have actively reduced the amount of angst from the original plan because none of us need more of that in our lives right now. So there's like angst/fluff and feelings coming up...

**19.**

Alex had little trouble getting into Brooklyn SVU. She was a woman on a mission, storming across the squad room demanding to see the former detective. She was met with grumblings and hostile faces from the cops, but she was clearly on the warpath, angry at everyone involved in the whole mess.

Angry because they had disrupted her case, intimidated her witness and upset Casey. Her obvious ire dissuaded anyone from putting up too much of a fight and besides, her reputation preceded her. And so, that was how with very little resistance she found herself alone in an interview room with Dani Beck.

“Where’s Casey?” the former detective asked, her voice both suspicious and concerned, as she took stock of the imposing blonde woman sat stiffly in front of her.

“She’s not coming”, said Alex curtly. She silently rebuked herself, she was supposed to be being nicer than this but she just couldn’t bring herself to not be annoyed with the woman who had caused so much trouble for Casey.

“You’re here instead?”

“Yes, it’s best if Casey doesn’t have to deal with this”, Alex waved her hand to show she meant the situation rather than the detective, “It’s exactly the kind of thing a defence lawyer will zero in on.” Dani nodded slowly as she saw the point Alex was trying to make without making, she decided to go ahead with her usual bluntness though.

“There’s nothing going on with me and Casey, I don’t think there ever really was as far as she was concerned”, Dani gave a bitter chuckle, slouching back with her signature cocky attitude,

“I know, but we both know how it looks”, Alex decidedly did not want to talk about Casey’s previous relationships, especially now when she knew how it felt to fall asleep in the redhead’s arms, to wake up with her clattering around the apartment.

“So are you going to get me out of here?” Dani asked, sensing the ADA’s unease. Alex nodded,

”I called the Brooklyn D.A. on the way over, apparently he doesn’t know why you’ve been arrested. He blamed it on a paperwork error.” Alex’s unimpressed tone was clear, it drew Dani to lean forward, resting her arms on the table as she bounced her feet restlessly instead.

“You don’t sound sure?”

“I’m not, I’m pretty sure someone is trying to intimidate you and sabotage my case.” Alex’s usual cool persona was firmly in place, although a sudden thought occurred to her which caused her mask to suddenly slip her gaze quickly boring into Dani’s, “Is your daughter ok?”

Dani looked away and swallowed a lump in her throat,

“Yeah, I sent her to stay with family out of state, it doesn’t feel safe for her here.” Alex’s initial panic was immediately calmed, giving a singular nod of acknowledgement she settled back into the hard metal chair.

“I’m sorry, I know you’re not allowed to leave the area but I think you should stay somewhere other than your apartment if you can.”

“You’re really worried aren’t you?” Danni was matching Alex’s intense stare with one of her own, trying to understand what it was that had the ADA so concerned.

“Yes, I don’t think anyone would try and hurt you, but it’d put Casey’s mind at rest if you were taking precautions.” Dani cocked her head, interested at the mention of Casey,

“You really care about her don’t you?”

“I’m not sure that’s relevant”, Alex felt Dani’s eyes studying her carefully but couldn’t help her arms adopting their characteristic defensive position crossed in front of her,

“You’re her type”, Dani went on – Alex swallowed but otherwise gave no other physical response, “It’s a shame really.” Alex was unsure how to respond, torn between threatening to delay the release paperwork if Dani didn’t drop it and desperately wanting to know what she meant. In the end she couldn’t resist the latter. Giving a quick quirk of her eyebrow and trying to fix her best ice-queen glare she finally gave in,

“What is?”

Dani grinned knowing she had got the other blonde to engage with her despite trying to appear indifferent and unflappable. She decided to enjoy the feeling of control she had suddenly gained and stretched out her arms as she leaned back in her chair. She gave Alex a look as if sizing her up fully before waiving her arm around as if she were an expert lecturing an excitable young student, “You’d be a good match if Casey wasn’t so…difficult.”

“Difficult?” That was the last word Alex would choose to describe whatever was going on between her and Casey, the whole thing just seemed easy, natural. She couldn’t help but wonder what Dani was going on about, or what her motivation was for doing so.

Dani shifted forward, arms gesticulating in short jerky movements to drive home her opinions as if they were facts.

“She’s not the type to admit feelings, even to herself, after what happened with Charlie she’s terrified of commitment, of being vulnerable”, Alex opened her mouth to protest but Dani barrelled forwards,

“Oh I know it might not seem like it right now, she’s affectionate and caring and all over you in bed-” Danni noticed a tick, barley a tightening of Alex’s jaw muscles, but it was a definite reaction that Beck filed away, “But the second you mention the future, any kind of future,” Dani quickly slapped her hand on the table making Alex jump unintentionally, “She’ll just shut you out.”

Dani’s smile was cold and hard, it unnerved Alex who found herself uncharacteristically floundering,

“We’re not sleeping together, well not like that, I mean we are sleeping together…” Alex was red and flustered, jealous at the thought of Casey being all over Dani Beck and sick to her stomach that the former detective might be right about Casey. It shouldn’t bother her so much, but the fact that it did was forcing some uncomfortable truths to surface.

“You’re not sleeping together?” Dani’s voice was laced with disbelief, “That’s not like her, usually she goes out and gets what she wants and then runs as soon as it get serious…”

“That really doesn’t sound like the Casey I know,” Alex sharp tone tried to hide the rising panic in her chest, “Whatever is going on with us it’s not how you’re saying.” She shifted back in her seat trying to recentre herself and some control over the conversation. Why was she even having this argument with this woman she barely knew and really didn’t like all that much?

“Maybe you’re right”, Dani feigned compromise, “Maybe it’s different with you,” there was no ignoring the bitter edge in her voice. “You came back from the fucking dead right when she needed you.” Dani couldn’t help but scoff and then slouch back in her seat and gesticulate around the dingy interview room defeatedly,“God, how is anyone supposed to compete with that?” her voice had fallen to a resigned, bitter whisper and she lowered her head into her hands. In spite of everything, Alex felt sorry for her, she was looking at a broken woman, someone who had lost so much.

Both women let the silence between them fall heavy, both trying to regroup and work out how they had respectively lost control of their conversation at different points. Alex took a few deep but quiet breaths to centre herself before taking in the broken former detective in front of her.

“I’m sorry she broke your heart”, she said finally, feeling an unpleasant knot rise in her throat at the thought that Casey was capable of breaking someone’s heart. It was an unpleasant realisation for Alex that she’d managed to put herself in a position to have her heart broken by a woman she hadn’t even kissed.

“She didn’t mean to,” Dani admitted quietly, lifting her head to look at Alex once more, “A lot happened to her, you can’t blame her for not trusting after Charlie. She had no way of knowing he’d get sick and it would make him violent. I can’t imagine someone I loved changing almost overnight into someone who would hurt me.”

“It wasn’t getting sick that made him violent, schizophrenics are far more likely to be victims of violence”, said Alex, remembering a conversation with Dr Huang during a particularly taxing case.

“I don’t think knowing that makes it any easier for her.”

“You’re right.” Alex stood up, she felt disorientated and nauseous, she braced her hands on the edge of the table in a move that usually made her feel and appear powerful, but Dani’s tired sigh made it seem as if she could see right through her, “I need to make a call, the paperwork to get you out should be here within half an hour.” She turned on her heel and started to move towards the door,

“Alex, wait” Dani called her back, she stopped at looked over her shoulder, “Casey deserves to be happy, if you think you can make her happy you should try. Just be careful with yourself.”

Alex responded with a smile and dip of her chin as words stuck in her throat. She couldn’t quite bring herself to admit that it was already way too late to be careful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a bit of a shorter one but the next couple are pretty long, also my PhD is kicking my ass right now!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just want to say a massive thank you to everyone for comments and kudos and support, this is a longer chapter and a bit angsty but I hope you all enjoy!

**20.**

Casey paced nervously around Alex’s apartment, waiting for Alex to call. She had washed the dishes, wiped down the surfaces and rearranged some papers she wasn’t able to focus on. There was way too much going on in her head: a potentially sabotaged case, Dani suspiciously rearrested, grease weasel Garrett and his motions and of course Alex. Her dream from the previous night kept replaying in her mind, she was adamantly refusing to admit to herself that the real reason she’d been up early making breakfast was because she couldn’t cope with waking up next to Alex knowing she couldn’t kiss her.

Her shoulders still tingled where Alex had caressed them. She’d been so close that Casey could have shifted, closed the gap between them and pressed their lips together in the space of a heartbeat. But she couldn’t kiss Alex, to do so would betray her trust. Alex needed her as a friend and an ally in the office. Besides, Casey had her own baggage when it came to relationships. It wasn’t like she was the kind of person Alex dated anyway, she’d be sure to flounder awkwardly in the sophisticated upper-class world that Alex inhabited. Alex Cabot deserved better than her.

She must have read the same sentence three times without absorbing it when her phone finally rang, she eagerly snatched it up,

“Alex?”

“Hi Casey, no it’s Liv, I can’t get a hold of Alex, do you know where she is?” Casey couldn’t hide the sigh of disappointment from escaping her when she heard the detective’s familiar voice,

“She’s gone to Brooklyn SVU, some trouble with them arresting one of our witnesses,” Casey tried to play it off like it wasn’t a massive drama,

“Ok, can you meet me? We found a bug in her office and I need a detailed list of everyone who’s been in and out of here.” Casey felt her stomach drop, if someone had been listening had they heard her and Alex the night they’d stayed in the office? Had someone heard Alex’s screams, Casey comforting her, the gentle kiss she’d placed on Alex’s head? Her thoughts were spiralling but Casey was able to reel it back; a senior ADAs office being bugged meant bigger problems than her own personal crisis at the moment. Nodding to herself she finally replied to Olivia,

“Um sure, where do you want to meet?”

“Can I come to you?”

Casey was quiet for a beat or two but realised the detective coming to her would be easiest,“I guess, I’m at Alex’s apartment,”

“What are you doing there?” She could hear the confused curiosity, almost defensiveness, in Olivia’s voice,

“We were working the case late, I stayed over,” a charged silence hovered between them,

“In the guest room?” Liv probed, Casey blanched and looked away from the phone, how did Olivia always know to ask the most awkward question even when she wasn’t in the same room!

“Yes… sort of…” Casey didn’t know where the admission had come from, maybe she was just dying to talk to someone about whatever was going on with Alex, “What time shall I expect you?” She knew Liv wasn’t fooled by her tactless attempt to change the subject,

“I’ll be with you in half an hour, put some coffee on Novak.”

***

By the time Liv arrived Casey had at least managed to get changed into something more professional, she’d pulled on a work shirt and smart pants from her overnight bag but couldn’t find a jacket; so she borrowed one of Alex’s, hoping the blonde wouldn’t mind. She was sat at the breakfast bar, swirling a mug of coffee and trying to write a list of everyone she could remember going in and out of Alex’s office when she’d been working in it. When she shifted she could smell a faint scent of Alex coming from her jacket – whatever expensive perfume she used seemed to be particularly alluring to Casey. The now familiar scent was comforting but kept drawing Casey’s mind away from the task at hand. When she tried to think of all the times the office door had opened and closed she just saw Alex leaning against the door frame, Alex smiling up from her desk, Alex wearing her sweater sleeping next to her on the couch… all she could think about was the beautiful blonde she’d held in her arms a few hours before.

With a deep sigh Casey gave up on the current report she was trying to read and pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried once again to get her thoughts in order. She didn’t know exactly when her feelings for Alex had turned into something more than physical attraction – her mind unhelpfully flashed to a late night visit to a certain pizzeria but she pushed the visual away – but there was definitely no denying it now. This was not how coming back to SVU was supposed to go, she had been so good at not getting feelings, or at least denying them to herself, for so long now. How the hell had she let her guard down around Alex Cabot, Alex _fucking_ Cabot, of all people?

Liv’s knock at the door shook her out of her musings and she paced over to the door, opening it and welcoming the detective,

“Come in Liv, I’ve made coffee,” she said simply, keen to just get on with Liv’s questions. The detective smirked at her,

“You’ve made yourself at home then?” she teased, the look Casey shot her told her she was not in the mood to be joked with, she led them over to where she’d been working and set about fixing Olivia a cup of coffee. “Is everything ok?” Liv asked, genuinely concerned as she accepted the proffered mug, acknowledging Casey still remembered how she took her drink with a grateful nod, and joined Casey, sitting across from her at the breakfast bar.

“I’m just stressed out, there’s a lot going on,” Casey glanced away from Liv, her hands fidgeting with the handle of her mug, she wished she could still her right leg from nervously bouncing too but it required more focus than she had to give at this moment in time.

“With the case?” the older woman asked gently taking in the nervousness, almost distress, of the redhead in front of her,

“Yes with the case,” Casey paused and took a deep breath, finally glancing up to Olivia’s face she caught the brunette’s warm brown eyes and knew Olivia could be trusted, “and with Alex…”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Olivia’s question was soft, the offer to listen genuine and Casey knew it. She exhaled through her nose and leant forward across the counter top in front of her, her left hand remained wrapped around the coffee mug but her right came up to rub at her temple, trying to ease the tension headache which was starting to make itself known. Casey reopened her eyes and fixed her gaze on Olivia,

“No. Yes. I don’t know. Isn’t the case more important right now?” Casey’s statement was punctuated with more sighs, her shoulders sagged and Liv wasn’t sure she’d ever seen her look so deflated, the detective nodded slowly,

“We can start with the case if you’d like?” Olivia sipped her coffee as Casey nodded, “Okay, who do you remember being in the office, especially anyone who might have been alone?”

“Well there’s me and Alex, we’re both in the office a lot so people aren’t really left alone.” Olivia now took out her notepad and pen and quickly jotted down some notes as Casey continued,

“We don’t get too many visitors there, the odd junior researcher, interns delivering motions… but they mostly come in, drop off paperwork and leave again,” Casey waved her hand vaguely as she listed off the people she saw on a regular basis.

“I was there the other day,” Liv added,

“Yes you’re definitely the one who planted the bug,” it was an attempt at a joke, but Casey’s tone was still flat,

“I mean you didn’t mention me, is there anyone else who you wouldn’t suspect that’s been in?” Casey thought for a moment,

“Cragen dropped by the office the other day, he wanted the defence forensic report on the knife.”

“He didn’t just get you to fax it over?” Liv was sounding more concerned,

“No he said he was in the area,” Olivia put her pen down as her anxiousness rose,

“But that’s totally out of the way for him,”

“I know, I figured he’d been visiting a friend or something. You can’t seriously suspect him?” Casey couldn’t help the surprise in her voice being evident.

“Was he alone?”

“I don’t know, I had to go get something from my office, I guess Alex could’ve also left for a second. Casey leaned forward shaking her head at what Olivia’s questions could be insinuating, she exasperatedly waved her hand “But you can’t seriously suspect him of this?”

“I don’t know,” Liv sounded frustrated and defensive, she shifted to lean back, trying to diffuse the burgeoning tenseness between the two of them, she softened her tone as she looked to Casey, setting out her thoughts as she normally would when providing a debrief or theory for a case,“He’s been acting really weird lately, what if they’ve got something on him like they did with Dani, something that happened when he was still drinking?” The two women looked at each other as they contemplated the implications of what Liv had just said.

“Can the techs check where the bug was broadcasting to? Surely that’s the quickest way to clear this up, there’s no way Cragen is behind this,” said Casey trying to portray and air of confidence, even if she didn’t feel quite as certain as she had before. Liv shook her head,

“They tried to plug it in to get data from it and it fried itself, apparently it’s a built in security measure so it can’t be traced. Actually the damn thing was pretty high-tech.” Casey caught her lip between her teeth, even more stressed than she had been before. She couldn’t ignore the ceaseless churning in her stomach as she thought about what a mess this all was.

“You need to just ask him where he’s been,” she said finally, “Don’t say you suspect he’s planted a bug, say you’re worried he’s been wanting to drink again.” Olivia nodded as she followed Casey’s reasoning, so the redheaded ADA tried once more to reassure them both, “There’s probably a totally reasonable explanation for his behaviour.”

“You’re right,” Liv sighed and ran her hand through her short hair as she thought about their next steps, “We should probably head to the precinct this afternoon. When’s Alex due back? We ought to fill her in.” Casey shrugged trying to appear nonchalant even though she had been eagerly awaiting word from the blonde,

“She’s supposed to call once she knows what’s going on, you know what Brooklyn SVU are like though.” Olivia smirked and roll her eyes, there was a long-standing dissatisfaction at the quality of work their neighbouring SVU colleagues did. She was thoughtful for a moment before deciding to press Casey for more information,

“You said it was something about a witness?”

“Yeah,” said Casey, the word catching in her throat before deciding to come clean, Olivia would no doubt hear about it anyway, “It’s Dani, they arrested her for evidence tampering.”

“I thought they couldn’t do that, it’s part of her deal…” Olivia’s confusion was evident, her brow furrowed as she thought back to the deal the blonde former detective had been offered,

“You’re right,” Casey nodded to reassure her, before finding herself distractedly playing with her coffee cup handle to cope with her nervousness about the situation, “I wanted to rush right over and get her out but Alex wouldn’t let me. She thinks the whole thing smacks of witness intimidation.” Liv nodded sagely,

“Alex will sort it,” she said reassuringly leaning forward to catch Casey’s eyes again and gave the redhead her biggest reassuring smile, “It’s what she does.”

“Yeah,” Casey said simply, slinking back into her chair once more, her voice cracking at the mention of Alex. Liv heard the change in tone,

“What’s going on Casey? Every time I mention Alex you look like you’re about to cry.”

“That’s because I am!” replied Casey, making a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob and throwing up her hands, “Liv I’ve been such an idiot.”

“What’ve you done?” Casey shook her head gently and worried at her lower lip with her teeth,

“I just…” she somehow couldn’t find the words, she got up from the seat so she could pace, needing to expel some of the nervous energy that kept grabbing at her, it was a tactic she used when preparing for trials and she hoped the familiar back and forth motion would calm her mind. She could tell Olivia was watching her, the wise detective giving her the space to get her thoughts in some form of order and stretching out the silence until Casey couldn’t bare the silence. Finally she stilled, resting against the fridge door, her head making a gentle thunking noise as she tipped it back to look up at the ceiling,

“Last night I had this dream,”

“A dream?” Olivia couldn’t help but sound slightly surprised at Casey’s opening statement. The redhead, finally looked at the detective and made her way back to her chair, nodding as she refilled her cup with the last of the coffee to keep her hands busy,

“Yeah a dream.”

“About… Alex?” Olivia waited for a look of confirmation from the redhead, who inclined her head in acknowledgement, the reddening of her cheeks evident. Olivia reached forward, gently touching the younger woman’s wrist to get her to look up, “You know you can’t control what you dream about right?”

“I know but I… I feel really guilty about it.” Casey retracted her arms from the table, and wrapped them around herself almost like a defensive barrier, but she continued to talk, taking relief in finally being able to say what had been running around her head for hours, “ Like we’re friends and she trusts me and I’m there dreaming about what it would be like to have her…” Casey decided to spare Liv the details of her dream, but the detective’s raised eyebrows and pursed lips told her she understood exactly what kind of dream the ADA had had.

“Are you honestly telling me you’re on the verge of tears because you had a sex dream about Alex Cabot?” Liv tried to hide a knowing smirk, it seemed Casey was the last person to work out she was attracted to Alex.

“Yes. No… it’s… it’s more than that,” Casey stammered, “The dream woke me up so I came to get a glass of water, and she was just sitting here… her insomnia, you know,” Casey gestured towards Liv, who had first-hand experience of the blonde’s trouble sleeping. 

“You didn’t tell her did you?” said Liv, a note of panic creeping into her voice,

“God no, I mean I told her I had a weird dream, and I don’t think I talk in my sleep…”

“So what happened?” Olivia grasped her hands in front of her so she could lean in trying to keep Casey talking now she had started to open up.

“I’m not sure, she was tired and she said she doesn’t sleep well alone so I offered to stay with her,” a rogue tear finally broke free and ran down Casey’s cheek, she paused to angrily brush it away, “And I know it was stupid and I shouldn’t have but I said it without thinking because it wouldn’t be the first time we slept together… I mean we haven’t _slept_ together slept together…” Casey was rambling now, her head resting heavily in her hands as a slightly bewildered Liv tried to make sense of what the redhead was going on about,

“So you just slept in the same bed? That’s it?” Casey couldn’t help but notice that Liv seemed a little disappointed. Casey swiped at another errant tear that escaped her tired eyes and sniffled slightly but nodded to the detective,

“Yes that’s it,”

“Casey I… I’m still not sure I understand exactly what you’re trying to say.” Olivia had to sit back, opening her shoulders up and spreading her arms wide, trying to convey she was still listening but needed more context from the other woman.

“Then you’re a terrible detective” sniffed Casey morosely, trying to fix the brunette with a hard stare to emphasise the joke but being undermined by her reddened tear-filled eyes. Liv nodded silently, knowing the comment wasn’t intended as an insult,

“Are you sure?” she asked gently, extending a hand to rest it lightly on Casey’s forearm,

Casey gave aborted laugh, “No, you’re actually a pretty good detective,”

“ _Casey_ ” Liv chided, “You know what I’m asking.”

“Yes I’m sure,” said Casey, she took a deep breath before continuing, “I have feelings for Alex, and they’re more than just physical attraction like I thought.” More tears welled up in her eyes at hearing it out loud, and she didn’t stop the trickle of them that ran when she closed her eyes in resignation. They continued when she opened them to address Liv once more,

“But it’s not like it matters how I feel, there’s no way we can ever be anything, even if she was interested, which she isn’t.” Casey’s head was hung low again, watching her own hands fidget on the countertop.

“Why do you think that?” Liv’s tone was soft, it was odd to see Casey crying like this,

“Isn’t it obvious? She’s _Alex Cabot_ , she’d have made a move by now if she’s interested, but she’s not because it’s me and we both know I’d drag her career down, not to mention her social standing.” Casey was getting herself worked up, the words running together as her anger and frustration with herself and the situation finally bubbled up to the surface. She turned to face Olivia, almost as if daring her to try and contradict what she’d said,

“Besides being friends with her is one of my favourite things,” Casey jabbed her pointed finer into the hard surface to emphasise her determination, “I’m not putting that on the line for the slim chance that she might feel something for me. You know I can’t do relationships, something always goes wrong.” The redhead’s voice faltered slightly as she finished, the anger disappearing as quickly as it had arrived, and leaving her even more emotionally exhausted than she had been earlier. Her shoulders shook lightly as she cried silently, desperately trying to stem the flow with the cuffs of her – well, Alex’s – jacket. The realisation made Casey cry even harder, her cheeks becoming red and blotchy from the rougher material constantly rubbing against them, “I’m such an idiot,” she whispered, sniffing valiantly to try get more air into her system and to regain control of her tear ducts, “I should never have let it get this far.”

Liv opened her mouth to reply, but she was cut off by the ringing of Casey’s phone. Both women looked at it, clearly able to see that the caller ID stated Alex was finally calling as promised. Casey’s eyes widened in panic, there was no way she’d be able to keep the tears out of her voice. Silently she slid the phone towards Liv as she stumbled up from her chair trying to put more space between her and the ringing phone. Olivia thankfully seemed to understand instantly and picked up the call,

“Hey Alex,”

“Liv?” There was a moments pause where Casey just knew Alex had pulled her phone from her ear to double check she’d called the right number. “What’re you doing answering Casey’s phone? Where is she? Is she ok?” Immediately Alex sounded breathless with concern,

“She’s fine, you don’t need to worry. I needed to ask her some questions about who’s been in and out of your office so I came over to your apartment.” Alex waited for the inevitable jibe about Casey moving in with her, but it didn’t come.

“Why can’t she answer her own phone?” Olivia sighed internally, she’d been through enough of Alex’s Cabot’s cross-examinations – both on the stand and in their previous relationship – to recognise that tone of voice,

“She’s, uh, in the bathroom,” Liv winced at the suspicious silence on the other end.

“Ok”, said Alex slowly, “Well can you tell her Dani should be out in the next half hour, her kid is safe and I’ll be home in about 20 minutes.”

“That’s good, I need to talk to you about something and I don’t want to do it at the precinct.” Her request made Alex pause, her mind quickly trying to run through various possible scenarios given what Liv was saying,

“Everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine, how are you?” the further pause on the other end of the line told Olivia that Alex was now most likely _over_ -thinking, maybe even wondering what Casey might have said about the previous night.

“Everything’s good with me,” she said eventually, “I just wish people would stop trying to sabotage my Casey -, case!, my _case_ ”, Alex corrected herself quickly, “Sorry I’ve only had the one coffee this morning.”

“Uh-huh”, muttered Liv smirking to herself knowingly as Alex scrambled to cover up the telling slip,

“Look I have to go now but I’ll be back with you soon. Bye.” Alex hung up quickly and Liv smiled fully this time,

“Did you get all that?” she turned to Casey, who was looking slightly more relieved even if she was still tightly gripping the back of the stool seat rather than sitting in it. The ADA nodded,

“Yeah, I’m glad Dani’s going to be alright,” she said nothing about Alex’s slip of the tongue.

“Maybe you should maybe go wash your face,”, said Liv, not unkindly, sensing that Casey was becoming uneasy about her earlier distraught confession, “Unless you want to explain to Alex why you’ve been crying?” she expected some kind of sassy comeback from Casey but the redhead simply agreed with her suggestion and finally let go of the back of her seat.

“Maybe you should put another pot of coffee on?” said Casey, “Alex will want some when she gets in,” she smiled sadly and turned to leave the room.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! You get two chapters this week because I'm rewarding myself for having written a semi-decent abstract for a conference I'm applying to. Hope you enjoy! As ever all feedback is super welcome both here and on tumblr (same URL @littlelemonkey)

**21.**

Alex felt extremely flustered as she closed the apartment door behind her. She’d had the whole way home to worry over what Liv wanted to talk to her about, what Casey might have said to her. She wasn’t sure exactly what she was worried about on that front – it wasn’t like anything had actually happened between them. Well, _something_ had, but not something tangible enough that Alex could put her finger on. She’d briefly entertained the idea that Casey actually did have feelings for her, but what Dani had said, along with the tone of Liv’s voice on the phone, had undermined that idea. Dani had been right about one thing though, Casey did deserve to be happy, but over the course of the drive home Alex’s insecurities had run rampant – telling her she couldn’t possibly be the one to make her that way. She just hoped Casey hadn’t been complaining about her, telling Liv she was too needy or fragile or came on too strong. God she hoped she hadn’t fucked this up.

Liv noted the concern on her face straight away and hurried over to her as she hung up her pea coat and glanced around the open living space. There was no sign of Casey except a second empty coffee mug sitting on the breakfast bar.

“Where’s Casey?” asked Alex, gratefully accepting an unexpected hug from Liv, “What’s going on, is everything ok?” she murmured as her chin rested for a moment on the detective’s shoulder. She might not have romantic feelings for Liv anymore, but there was always something very comforting about her presence. Liv knew her better than anyone, and Alex was pretty sure she could see right through her when it came to Casey. Liv eventually released her,

“Everything’s fine, she’s just looking for a file she left in her bag,” Alex looked away, unconsciously glancing in the direction of the guest room where she now knew Casey was. Liv ducked her head slightly, placing her hands back on Alex’s shoulders, guiding the blonde’s gaze back to meet her own.

“Alex, is everything ok with you?”

“Obviously not Liv,” Alex gave a bitter laugh. She shook her head to try and clear it of at least some of the thoughts running through it, “What is it you needed to talk to me about?”

Liv sighed and turned away, leading Alex towards the breakfast bar. The blonde tried to find her mug from breakfast and saw it sitting, clean, on the draining board. Casey had washed up just as she’d promised, that the redhead made herself so at home made Alex’s stomach do somersaults. She walked over and picked it up, filling it from the fresh pot of coffee on the counter. She leant awkwardly against the cupboards, slowly sipping from the mug and waiting for Liv to speak.

“We found a bug in your office,” said the detective simply, knowing Alex liked for her to get straight to the point.

Fear gripped Alex, her eyes going wide as she processed what the detective was telling her but every other muscle in her body stilling as her heart rate rocketed and her limbs locked. She was angry at her professional privacy being violated but she spent so much time in her office, particularly recently, with Casey, that it was a personal space for her too. She turned to face away from Liv, trying to stop herself from hyperventilating but she could feel the icy cold tendrils of dread encircling her chest. A bug, a listening bug in her office – it meant whoever it was that was listening had heard her night terrors, heard her time spent with Casey.

Those quiet hours spent with Casey in the office were theirs, totally theirs, and the idea that anyone had been listening… it caused Alex’s skin to crawl. Then came a worse fear. It clenched in the bottom of her stomach and travelled up, tightening her chest and causing her to start shaking. It was happening again. Someone was after her. She was going to have to leave again. Leave New York, leave her job… leave Casey. Her mouth was dry and she could feel her knees weakening under her, she placed her mug down gingerly and stumbled towards the couch, collapsing on it in a heap, head in her hands.

“This is not happening, not again”, she moaned. Liv walked over to the distraught blonde and sat down next to her, stroking small circles on her back trying to help ground her and get her shaky and shallow breaths to ease. Casey chose that moment to come back into the room, she stood in the doorway her stomach dropping at the sight of Alex looking so distressed

“What’s happened? What’s wrong?” said the redhead hurriedly, rushing over to sit on the other side of Alex. Liv tactfully stopped rubbing Alex’s back, allowing Casey to wrap her arms around the blonde. Alex visibly relaxed a little at Casey’s touch, her breaths coming a little easier.

“I can’t go away again”, Alex whispered, burying her head in Casey’s neck taking solace in the familiar comforting scent of the other woman. Casey sternly ignored the thrill that ran through her as Alex’s breathed against her skin, this was absolutely not the time to entertain those thoughts.

“No one is going to make you go away again,”, soothed Casey, trying to keep her voice as steady and reassuring as possible, “Not if I have anything to do with it.”, she instinctually placed a gentle kiss on the top of Alex’s head as she pressed her cheek to the crown of blonde locks, holding Alex as close as possible to her. Liv cleared her throat,

“Casey’s right Alex, I don’t think anyone is after you – either of you – in particular. It’s this case, we know how high up this goes – even Munch couldn’t believe how widespread it could reach, even if we can’t prove it in the courts just yet. These aren’t the kind of people who will use brutal physical violence, they’re just trying to get into your head.”

“They won’t use physical violence?” said Alex incredulously, raising her head and turning to face Liv, “Did you see what they did to Amelia Santos?” Both Olivia and Casey couldn’t help but flinch at the thought of the little girl,

“You don’t fit their victimology,” responded Liv quietly, “I’m not saying they’re not violent, I’m saying they see you as an adversary, a person. The violence they use, they don’t - they aren’t capable – of even seeing their victims as people.” The room stilled as the implications of Liv’s words sunk in. Casey felt a ball of anger grasping at her chest,

“Liv’s right Al”, the husk of her voice brought Alex’s focus back to the closeness of the redhead, Casey gave her a small reassuring smile and as she took over the gently rubbing soothing circles on Alex’s lower back,

“These bastards see us as someone, they’ll play mind games, threaten our careers, threaten the people we care about with legal action to try and distract us. But they wouldn’t have us shot in the street,” Casey reached out to smooth some of Alex’s hair where it had ruffled, knowing such action had helped calm her after the nightmare in her office.

“That would draw too much scrutiny and unwanted attention. They’re cowards,” Casey’s voice had hardened and she held Alex’s gaze with steely determination in her eyes, “They go after people they think no one cares about, and they’re right, no one seems to give a shit about them. When I was suspended I saw such much of it and what I saw is just the tip of the iceberg. How many cases have you come across where there’s just no evidence or a shoddy investigation because the cops saw the victim as expendable, as not even a person because they’re poor, or black or an immigrant?” Casey quickly glanced at Olivia with a look she hoped the brunette would understand she didn’t include her in that statement before looking back at Alex,

“How many times have we seen the death of a dealer or a sex worker called a ‘public service murder’? We have to stop this before they hurt anyone else, and it has to be us because no one else _cares_.” Casey found she was crying again, but this time it was tears of rage, “I won’t let them hurt you Alex, you or anyone else.” Liv reached around Alex’s back to rest a hand on Casey’s shoulder, letting the redhead finally take a deep breath after her emotional outpour,

“We’ll get them,” she said quietly, “But for now, the first step - I do need to know who’s been in and out of your office recently.” she turned gently to Alex and pulled out her notepad.

Alex shifted in her seat, sitting up straighter, some of her composure having returned following the reassurance of the women sitting either side of her. “Casey already gave me a preliminary list,” Liv continued, “If you could just look over it, see if anyone’s missing, and mark anyone who was left alone?” she handed the notepad and pen to Alex. The blonde adjusted her glasses on her face took a deep breath and knitted her brow to concentrate on the paper in front of her, she marked a couple of names and then paused,

“Why are you on the list?” she turned back to Liv with a wry smile, “If you’re on the list, Casey should definitely be on the list,” she glanced over to the redhead who blushed slightly,

“Why would I want to record what went on in that office?” asked Casey with a smile, Liv cleared her throat again and raised her eyebrows. Alex rolled her eyes,

“Yeah you’re right, you talk so much shit when you’re tired and you eat noodles really loudly. I wouldn’t want anyone knowing that about me either,” she sassed back making both other women grin. She found herself wishing that Casey actually had said something to her she wouldn’t want anyone else hearing. Instead the only private thing anyone would’ve heard was her nightmare, she shuddered at the memory.

“As interesting as that is can we stick to the case for a moment?” Liv prompted, drawing Alex’s attention back to the list and away from thinking about Casey. Honestly, Alex found Casey’s exhausted ramblings really quite endearing and didn’t even mind the noisy eating so much…

“Alex?” the sound of Liv’s voice brought her back into the room once more, she ducked her head down to hopefully hide the blush at being distracted by thoughts of Casey once again,

“Oh, Cragen’s on here”, said the blonde with some surprise, although she shifted uncomfortably a frown forming as she quickly looked up at Olivia, “He was alone for a few minutes whilst I photocopied the forensic report for him.” Liv and Casey exchanged a worried glance over the top of Alex’s head,

“Are you sure?” asked Liv gently,

“Yeah I remember because it was weird he stopped by in person, and because Casey had to go back to her office…” Alex remembered the day clearly, how she’d made Casey blush by praising her, borderline flirting really, and how Cragen had commented on their closeness, how warm she’d felt seeing how at home Casey was in the office. 

“Shit,” muttered Casey, “I was hoping you’d say you were with him the whole time.”, Alex couldn’t help but notice she was chewing at her lower lip again as she kept her eyes on the detective who was looking decidedly agitated now.

“We have to get back to the precinct. I’ll call Elliot,” sighed Liv, running a hand through her hair,

“Wait, you can’t seriously think Cragen planted the bug?” said Alex turning between the other women,

“I don’t want to, but the details could’ve come from that report and he was in your office alone. He’s the only person out of place and we have no idea how deep this thing goes,” Liv reasoned exasperatedly. The detective stood up, sighing again, and pulled out her phone, heading across the room to call her partner.

The two ADAs were left sitting close together on the couch, neither of them moved apart but Alex shifted slightly so she was facing Casey their knees now bumping together,

“How are you?” she asked, reaching out a hand and placing it over the younger woman’s, “You were still upset when I left, I was worried.” Casey couldn’t hold her gaze as she felt tears welling up in her eyes. Why the fuck was Alex always so damn soft with her?

“I’m ok”, she murmured keeping her eyes down as she watched where Alex’s hand gently held her own, “I guess I’m just tired.”,

“How early did you get up to make breakfast?” Alex teased trying to cheer up the redhead,

“Not too early,” Casey barely whispered in reply, her emotions still churning from the tumultuous days most recent developments.,

“Did you sleep ok? After your dream I mean?” Alex kept her voice low so Liv wouldn’t hear, although the detective seemed pretty absorbed in arguing with her partner about why he should come in on her weekend off and accuse their CO of corruption.

“I slept well, yeah” Casey didn’t want to admit quite how well, once she’d let herself relax against Alex and, revel in the warm comfort of her body. Her sleep had been deep and peaceful until she awoke. Alex gave a relieved smile,

“Good, I was worried, it was the best I’ve slept in ages,” she added, perhaps a little too eagerly.

“I was worried about you too”, Casey finally blurted out gripping onto Alex’s hand in turn now, “Before, when Liv told you about the bug…”

“I’m okay” said Alex firmly dipping her chin to reinforce her statement, “It’s different circumstances, I can’t expect the same outcome,” she shot Casey a quick smirk as she bumped her shoulder against Casey’s, “That’s what George would tell me anyway.”

“He’s right about that”, Casey smiled, finally raising her eyes to look into Alex’s, “You know, I always thought you were so brave for coming back.” It was Alex’s turn to blush and look away, but before she could respond Liv marched back over, obviously exasperated at something Elliot had said.

“Well he took some convincing but El is going to meet us at the precinct,” she huffed, she hadn’t missed the fact that the other two women were still holding hands but given Casey’s earlier outburst she decided it was best not to comment.

“We should get going then,” commented Alex, almost reluctantly. She was suddenly hyper aware of Liv looking at her hand as it held Casey’s, she dropped it after giving a quick tightening of her grip and stood up to face the detective pulling her professional ADA walls back in place so they could tackle this new potential crisis, “What time did Stabler say he’d be there?”

“He said ASAP so we’ve probably got time to grab a coffee on the way.” Liv hoped some hot drinks would help the other two women prepare themselves after such an emotional rollercoaster of a morning. “No extra foam for you though, you might need to look professional”, this last was addressed to Casey with a signature teasing smirk from the cheeky detective,

“I am so professional!” the redhead replied indignantly standing abruptly to her feet,

“Then why did you forget to pack your own jacket?” Alex couldn’t help but join in in teasing the other lawyer.

Casey couldn’t help but blush again,

“I was in a rush ok?” she turned to Alex, “I didn’t think you’d mind?” she mumbled bashfully,

“I don’t,” replied the blonde, looking her up and down. Impulsively she reached out to smooth the lapel against Casey’s collar, “It suits you.”

“Right, well like you said we should get going”, announced Liv with a loud clearing of her throat, startling the other women out of their moment. Deciding not to wait for them Olivia made a beeline for the door, “If you two don’t hurry up you can find your own ride to the station, and get your own damn coffee.”


	22. Chapter 22

**22.**

The atmosphere at the station was tense as the three women waited for everyone else to arrive. Casey perched on the edge of the desk in interview room three, her eyes roaming over the details of the evidence board as she sipped nervously at her coffee. Alex hovered next to her, picking at the cardboard holder on her coffee cup and adjusting her glasses much more than was probably necessary. Liv kept looking between them and back at the evidence board, occasionally stepping outside the room to check her phone.

Casey shifted uncomfortably, drawing the attention of the other two as she pushed herself off the desk and began to pace. Eventually, Alex broke the silence,

“This is how the characters must feel in an Agatha Christie novel,” Liv and Casey exchanged a glance and the redhead looked back at Alex with a bemused smile, “You know, like Poirot or whatever.” added the blonde with a dismissive wave of her hand.

“The French guy on the train where they all did it?” asked Liv, dredging up the memory of an old movie she’d watched on a bad date,

“He’s Belgian actually,” Alex smiled wryly, “One of my Witsec identities had a thing for early 20th century detective fiction…” she added by way of explanation. Both Casey and Olivia continued to look at Alex expectantly, although Casey definitely had a hint of a knowing smirk at Alex’s attempt at an excuse,

“Basically, at the end of every case he gets all the suspects together in a room and then carefully details who did it, and why, and how he worked it out.” She swallowed some more of her coffee before offering the other two women a wry smile, “Luckily, he usually gets a confession because his evidence wouldn’t stand up in court.”

“Except we still don’t know who did it…,” said Casey quietly. The mood grew sombre again.

Elliot was next to arrive, bursting through the door with obvious annoyance, delivering a gruff hello and then installing himself in the corner so he could watch them all as well as the door. Casey couldn’t help but roll her eyes at his typical ‘cop’ behaviour. He didn’t have too long to stand there glaring before Cragen arrived, looking harried and flustered,

“What’s so important you called us all in on a Saturday?” he asked, closing the door behind him and looking at each of them in turn. He crossed his arms across his chest as the others exchanged worried looks, “Well?”

“Alex’s office was bugged,” Liv began. Cragen’s eyes widened with concern and he looked towards the two ADAs who had unconsciously moved to stand closer together,

“Are you both alright?” he asked, his voice sincere. Alex and Casey glanced at each other and nodded,

“We’re a little shaken up,” Casey admitted finally, “Mostly…” she paused and took a deep breath, swallowing down her rising anxiousness as they moved to the point of their current meeting, “Because we have no idea who bugged it.”

The redhead glanced over at Liv, unsure what to say next. The experienced detective settled herself against the edge of the table to appear relaxed, whilst still keeping her presence dominant in the room. Once she knew she had everyone’s attention she picked up where Casey had left off,

“I got Alex and Casey to give me a list of everyone that’s been in or out of the office, especially anyone who was left alone in there.” Liv’s voice was calm and steady, her gaze resting heavily on her Captain. Elliot huffed from the corner and Cragen looked to him and then back to Liv, who had been steadily gazing at him,

“And my name came up?” he said in a low tone, his voice still surprisingly calm. He straightened his back and squared his shoulders as the focus of the room shifted, the lingering undercurrent of tension in the room suddenly coalescing around him.

“It’s no secret I called into the office,” his eyes briefly left Liv’s and settled on Alex, who maintained her defensive posture with her arms crossed in front of her. Her long finger tapped against the coffee lid as she took stock of the man in front of her.

“Look no one is accusing you of anything,” the blonde interjected finally, her fidgeting immediately ceasing as she loosened her arms and straightened her posture to match the Captains’, 

“But you keep disappearing and we’re all worried about you. I don’t know what’s going on but you need to tell us, I can’t have people keeping secrets that could jeopardise this trial!”

Alex swallowed heavily, she felt like a fraud as she spoke, knowing full well the secret she was currently keeping and the effect it could have on the trial if it came out. She needed Casey to second chair but she couldn’t risk scaring her off by admitting she had feelings. She knew Casey was a professional, but it could do serious damage to their relationship and they both needed to be at the top of their game right now, or so Alex kept telling herself.

Cragen raised his eyebrows and sighed tiredly, finally perching on the edge of the desk where Casey had been sat before he arrived, he ran one of his large hands over his face before speaking once more,

“Do you remember that case with the animal traffickers?” he said, looking at Liv, the detective stared at him blankly for a moment before recognising what he was talking about. She frowned but nodded to the Captain,

“The one where I went undercover and Liv had to pretend to be a hooker because the perps dropped by unexpectedly?” Elliot chimed in from the back of the room.

“Yeah I remember,” said Liv, rolling her eyes at her partner who was giving her his best shit-eating grin. Alex looked confusedly at Casey who mouthed ’I’ll explain later’ but Alex then found herself transfixed by the shape of Casey’s lips, her brain immediately flashing innumerable images of what they’d be like for her to kiss, how it might feel to softly bite down on that plump lower lip. The wave of want that flared in Alex was so intense and overwhelmed her so quickly she was stuck in place, simply trying to breathe and follow where the slightly bizarre story was going.

“Well,” Cragen continued talking at Olivia, “You remember the endangered gibbon we rescued, it was hidden inside a basketball…?” the others looked at each other in confusion, although Casey noticed that Alex seemed particularly out of the loop, but then she hadn’t been there for this case. A quick glance of confirmation from the redhead to Olivia reassured the brunette detective that she at least had not forgotten that it was Cragen who had freed the little gibbon that day, and how the small creature had instantly clung to him for reassurance for quite some time. But even then she really was not sure where Cragen was going with this,

“Of course we remember captain,” said Elliot slowly, catching Liv’s eye and hoping that Cragen hadn’t finally lost it,

“Well the gibbon was sent to the zoo where it could be taken care of, it obviously was not able to be returned to the wild so it was entered in to the endangered species breeding program.” Again Alex shot Casey a look that screamed ‘What on Earth is he talking about’ but the redhead lifted her hand just slightly indicating that Alex should hold fire with her questions for now,

“There was a problem though,” Cragen’s pause seemed to be for dramatic effect and the tension in the room was palpable once more,

“He had contracted a condition whilst being smuggled, it was dormant for a while but it’s surfaced now.” The old Captain looked dejected and frustrated as he thought of the trauma the poor animal had already gone through, “They can treat it but he needs regular medication.”

“I really don’t understand what this has to do with your regular disappearing acts?!” interjected Alex impatiently. Casey shot her a concerned look and she glanced away, slightly embarrassed by her outburst. The Captain leant forward,

“When I rescued the gibbon he imprinted on me or something,” said the Captain quietly whilst waving his hand towards himself, “So the only person he will accept his medication from is me.” He looked at each of the ADAs and his detectives in the eyes as he spoke, “That’s where I’ve been going.”

Everyone took a moment to let this information sink in. Alex found herself nearly struck dumb. As excuses went it was surely it too farfetched to be a lie? Alex opened her mouth and closed it again, her lightning quick brain caught trying to process the reality of what the Captain – who she had trusted since their first meeting even with the Morris commission hanging over him all those years ago – was possibly trying to spin her. It was so outlandish it had to be true, right?

Elliot’s wrinkled brow was deeply furrowed and Liv glanced from side to side taking in her usually astute colleagues floundering at the Captain’s admission,

“So you’ve been visiting a gibbon?” she said finally breaking the stunned silence. Cragen smiled ruefully and nodded whilst holding her incredulous gaze, “And you never mentioned this because?”

“Because I know how utterly ridiculous it sounds and I didn’t want you lot trying to get me sectioned.” Alex and Olivia shared a glance, Casey began pacing, which was no mean feat given how crowded the room was,

“So if we check with the zoo they’ll confirm it?” questioned the redheaded ADA turning to the Captain,

“Of course,” Cragen nodded, “Why would I invent an alibi you could check so easily if it wasn’t true?”

“So can I go with you to the zoo?” Casey quickly turned to Liv with her eyes wide and eyebrow raised hopefully even if she was trying hard to hide the excitement that had crept into her voice,

“Casey, we can just call them.” Alex was apparently trying to be the voice of reason. Even if her logical approach did cause Casey’s shoulders to sink slightly in disappointment.

“Alex is right,” Liv sighed. She pointed a finger at both of the two lawyers, “You two aren’t going anywhere, if Cragen isn’t responsible for this then we still don’t know who is.” The tough reality brought the team back to the seriousness of the situation. Olivia ran her hand through her hair as she looked over the overcrowded evidence board and then back to Alex and Casey,

“We’re going to have to do more deep background on the rest of the names you gave us and I’m not leaving you both vulnerable to intimidation in the meantime.”

Alex knew there was no point arguing when Liv used that tone of voice, but old habits die hard,

“Honestly Liv, we’ll be fine, you said yourself earlier they won’t try to physically harm us.”

“That’s not a chance we’re willing to take,” said Elliot, he stepped in before Olivia and Alex could start arguing with each other recognising the familiar road the two women were heading down even if they didn’t. He finally pushed off the wall and crossing the room towards them, using his passing between them to physically interrupt their silent ‘glare-off’,

“What do you think Captain?”

Cragen rubbed his bald head, deep in thought,

“So many people need protecting on this case we only have the one protective detail left,” he finally admitted. He gave the two counsellors a look that brokered no room for questions “And you two are going to take it.”

“Wait, that means we have to stay together all the time?” questioned Casey, not sure if what she felt was excitement or panic. The detectives simply looked at each other and to their Captain who was steadfastly looking to and from each suddenly anxious ADA in front of him.

Taking the police officers’ silence as confirmation to Casey’s enquiry, Alex decided to take the chance presented to her, “You might as well stay with me at mine Casey,” she shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant, “Your notes are there anyway.”

“You gave in quickly,” Liv muttered quietly as she smirked at the suddenly haughty blonde. Alex glared at her over the top of her glasses.

“Do you think you could give us a ride home detective?” said Alex sternly, trying to reassert her position of authority in the current situation. “We should stop by Casey’s apartment on the way so she can get her things. We don’t know how long we’ll have to live like this.”

Liv swallowed another smirk nodded,

“Yeah, you’ll probably need to get groceries as well, I don’t think Casey lives off takeout.”

“You’re right,” Alex fired back before Casey could interrupt, “She’s a great cook actually, makes excellent pancakes.” Alex continued to glare ferociously at Olivia. If Liv was going to wind her up, she’d wind Liv up right back.

“That’s enough you two!” Cragen butted in to stop the two from heckling at each other further. The Captain had evidently had quite enough of them all for the day,

“Liv, take Alex home and pick up some groceries on the way. Elliot, give Casey a ride to her apartment and then drop her at Alex’s. After that where one of you goes the other goes as well until we find out who’s doing this.”

Alex and Casey shared a quick glance, both grateful for the offer of protection and very uneasy about the need for it. Cragen checked his watch, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to see a gibbon about some medication,” he said, giving them all a final stare before brushing down his jacket and leaving the room without another word.

“Well that was… unexpected,” admitted Casey slowly, taking a deep breath and taking stock of the others,

“I can’t believe your reaction was to ask to go to the zoo,” teased Alex unable to help herself,

“I love the zoo! It does great educational and conservation work which is fundamentally misunderstood,” Casey protested. Alex rolled her eyes and shook her head gently, though she couldn’t supress a smile even as the redhead continued to wind her back up in retaliation,

“Anyway, whose idea was it to give you an identity that likes Agatha Christie novels? Like how old were you supposed to be?” Casey went on, flailing her hands about slightly as she tried to emphasise her point. Liv finally cleared her throat to try focus Casey back on their current tasks as a bemused Elliot watched on,

“Are you ok Liv, you’ve been coughing a lot today?” Alex hadn’t forgotten either of Liv’s earlier comments, it was the detective’s turn to shoot her a glare,

“I’m fine thank you counsellor, maybe we should all get going,” she retorted, motioning towards the door with her eyes, “If I remember your apartment correctly we’ve a hell of a lot of groceries to get.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So believe it or not Cragen looking shady but actually going to see a gibbon was one of the first ideas i had for this fic because the gibbon rescue is definitely in my top 10 SVU moments and if you haven't seen it I highly recommend!


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Fic Friday everyone! As always your comments are lovely <3 hope you enjoy!

**23.**

“Alex, what’s going on with you?” asked Liv as she loaded up the grocery bags into the car. It had been a tense trip to the store, Alex constantly looking over her shoulder whilst letting Liv put whatever she thought necessary in the cart. She’d paid without even looking at the total,

“Hmm?” hummed Alex distractedly, her eyes scanning the parking lot,

“You seem worried about something,”

“I seem worried about something?” Alex rounded on the detective, “Maybe that’s because I need a protective detail, and the last time I had one I got shot and had to disappear,” she realised how loud she was being a lowered her voice, “Of course I’m worried.”

Liv looked at her sympathetically as she finished putting the bags in the car and climbed into the driver’s seat. With a last look around the parking lot Alex climbed into the passenger side. “I’m sorry,” she said, staring straight ahead pulling the seatbelt on and pushing herself deeper into the seat, “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“Ok Alex, now I know something’s wrong,” quipped Liv. The blonde threw her a quizzical glance and was met with a wry smile and concerned brown eyes, “You just apologised with no coaxing, you never do that.”

“Maybe I do now,” Alex smiled sadly to herself, “Can we just go, please?”

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong,” Liv twisted in her seat so she was fully facing Alex, she put out a hand and gently rested it on the other woman’s arm hoping its familiar warmth would give some comfort to the blonde, “Talk to me Al.”

“I already told you,” said Alex, pulling her arm away from Liv and shifting in her seat,

“It’s more than that, I know you Alex. You were a mess when you got back from seeing Beck, what happened?” Olivia knew Alex well enough to not let her off the hook right now,

“I was a mess because you and Casey were being all shifty and you told me we needed to talk without even giving me a clue what was going on!” the blonde folded her arms defensively and looked away, frustrated at what her outburst would possibly reveal to the astute detective beside her.

“I knew how you’d react to the news of the bug, I didn’t want you driving in that state!” Alex huffed and crossed her arms, trying to create a buffer zone between her and the persistent detective who was looking at her so earnestly.

“Why didn’t Casey answer the phone?” Alex’s voice was getting louder, the tension of the day starting to catch up with her,

“So this is about Casey,” Alex could feel Liv’s gaze burning into her, but she refused to look the detective in the eye.

“You’re deflecting,” Alex protested,

“So are you!” Olivia couldn’t help but fling her arms out in frustration at Alex being so purposefully obtuse,

“Why didn’t she answer, Liv?” ever the lawyer Alex could sense an opening and immediately honed in. She hadn’t even realised she was leaning over the gearbox and into Olivia’s space until she suddenly noticed how close she’d gotten to the detectives face. She immediately jerked away, annoyed at her own instinctive combativeness was getting the better of her.

“I told you, she was in the bathroom,” it was Liv’s turn to look away a move that Alex immediately recognised,

“You were never very good at lying to me Olivia,” Alex’s voice was cold as she trained her courtroom gaze of the detective. Liv sighed,

“Why are you pushing this Al? It’s something Dani said to you isn’t it?”

“It’s…” Alex’s voice faltered and fell into a tired sigh as she realised once again the brunette seemed to know her better than herself. Liv raised her head to look at her as the normally verbose blonde stayed silent, her gaze softening as she watched Alex distractedly run her fingers down the seatbelt where it pressed against her shoulder. With another small sigh Alex finally continued, her tone so much more vulnerable than before;“It’s something she said about Casey.”

“You know we can’t trust her right?” Liv’s quiet statement drew an icy glare from Alex immediately ready to tear into Olivia for doubting the other lawyer once more. Olivia saw the flashing anger in the familiar blue eyes and immediately realised her mistake, “I mean Dani, not Casey. I know we can trust Casey.” Alex nodded gently, instantly soothed and seeing Liv’s point,

“I know we can, but Dani seemed… honest. What she said, it made perfect sense.”

“What did she say exactly?” Both women subconsciously relaxed more in their seats. Olivia was practically crossed legged, her elbow braced against the headrest as she opened herself up to show Alex she was there for her. Alex in turn had let her shoulders sag and her head thump into the headrest as she closed her eyes.

“She wanted to talk about Casey, about how Casey broke her heart. She thinks there’s something between us, I guess she was trying to warn me.” Liv eyes went wide in surprise and she couldn’t help but thump the back of the seat in frustration ,

“You discussed your private life with a witness?”

“Liv, there’s nothing to discuss about my private life, I don’t have one.” Liv raised an eyebrow at Alex’s self-denial and gave an incredulous chuckle,

“Seriously? You don’t think there’s anything going with you and Casey?”

“We’re friends,” Olivia scoffed loudly unable to believe the other woman was sticking to ignoring what was so painfully obvious,

“Oh come on Alex, it’s more than that,”

“No it isn’t,” her voice tightened as she felt tears threatening to break. She refused to look into Liv’s comforting brown eyes, knowing the compassion she would find there would make her succumb to the building tears,

“There are moments when I think maybe it could be, but then I realise it’s just wishful thinking. Dani confirmed it for me, Casey being like this doesn’t mean anything, she doesn’t do relationships.” Alex quickly glanced at Olivia from the corner of her eyes and saw a look of pure incredulity on the detective’s face. It made Alex completely give in and finally give verbalise the thoughts that had tormented her since the interview with the former detective. If Olivia was surprised at the outburst of frustrated emotion from the blonde lawyer she did well to hide it, knowing Alex needed to just get it all out,

“If she wanted more she’s had plenty of opportunities to make a move, but she hasn’t tried anything. God, I had to listen to Dani talk about how Casey would be _all over_ her… “ Alex hastily swiped at one errant tear that ran down her cheek, “We shared a bed and she didn’t even try to kiss me…” Alex was fighting back more tears now, perversely grateful she’d had so much practice doing so in the past.

“Alex, sweetie,” Liv talked softly, trying to work out how to reassure her without breaking Casey’s confidence, “Did you ever think the reason she isn’t all over you is because she has feelings for you?”

“That’s completely illogical.” Alex refused to admit she was sniffling, and Olivia couldn’t help but find it endearing at how hard she was trying to keep herself together. Immensely frustrating , but endearing nonetheless.

“Maybe to you, you were never afraid to go after what, and who, you wanted,” Alex couldn’t help but smirk at Liv’s arched eyebrow and gesture to herself, “But Casey’s different. Casey doesn’t think she can do relationships, she’s terrified of making herself so vulnerable.”

Alex’s mood instantly plummeted once more, “Thanks for reminding me”, Alex she snapped and Olivia rolled her eyes exasperatedly,

“Alex I’m trying to help you. She’s obviously physically attracted to you, I mean who wouldn’t be? But she hasn’t made a move.” Olivia leaned forward to emphasise her next point, “That tells me maybe she feels something more, and she doesn’t want to risk those feelings growing.”

“Oh so you’re psychic now?” Alex couldn’t help the defensive snark rising through once more.

“ _Alex_ ”

“Sorry,” the blonde sighed and leaned forward, her head in her hands for a moment as she thought through what she wanted to say,

“She has seen me at my worst Liv, the other night we fell asleep in the office… I had one of my night terrors and she was there, taking care of me. That must’ve totally shattered her image of me as strong and competent, and there’s nothing sexy about cold sweats and shaking. Maybe there was something between us before that, but now she probably just feels obligated to take care of me.”

“Now you’re being ridiculous,”

“No I’m not, I just have a different theory of what’s going on. Maybe she felt something, but then she saw how broken I am and now she doesn’t.”

“Alex I can’t help you if you refuse to see what’s right in front of you.”

“My theory has more evidence Liv, I have more evidence of how things are between us than you.”

“This isn’t a fucking court case Alex, you can’t reason your way out of it with clever rhetoric and legal loopholes. You can’t just raise an objection to your feelings and hope they get struck from the record!”

“Maybe not, but I can put them in a box and get over it, I’ve had a lot of practice at that,” Alex yelled back bitterly. Liv closed her eyes and took a deep breath, there was no talking to Alex when she was like this. The detective turned back to sit in the seat properly indicating she wasn’t going to engage with the now irate blonde any further,

“Let’s just get you home before the frozen food defrosts,” she said, turning the key in the ignition.

***

“So,” asked Elliot as he tried hard not to poke at things in Casey’s apartment, “How do you feel about staying with Alex?”

“Fine,” Casey responded distractedly over her shoulder as she threw clothes into a suitcase with a small huff, “Her apartment is amazing, especially the kitchen.”

“Is the bed comfy?” Casey whipped round and fixed him with a potent glare,

“Of course, you know Alex doesn’t settle for anything less than luxurious.” She realised she was maybe being overly defensive and so exhaled deeply and ran a hand over her face. Deciding to just move on she took her bag over to the hall closet as she dug out some of her running gear,

“I hope Liv has helped her with the groceries, Alex doesn’t even have the basics in,” she mused, holding up two pairs of running shoes, eventually throwing one pair in the case and dropping the other.

“How are you feeling about the protective detail?” The tall detective continued to instinctively question her as she moved to the bathroom for some toiletries.

“It’s necessary I guess, maybe it’ll make Alex feel safer.” Elliot noted the bluntness of Casey’s answers and the fact she was avoiding looking at him altogether.

“She’ll feel better having you around too I guess,”

“What makes you say that?” asked Casey defensively leaning against the door momentarily, toying with the bottles of shampoo and conditioner she had in her hands. She didn’t really know why she was bothering to bring them, she liked having the excuse of using Alex’s premium ones. She almost missed Elliot’s low grumble as he finally replied,

“I just mean it’ll be nice for her to have company,” Elliot finally put down a random knickknack he’d picked from her bookcase and shot her a look “So she doesn’t get in her own head too much.”

“Right,” Casey decided to keep moving, wanting to limit the time Elliot had to snoop – literally and metaphorically,

“You two seem to get on really well,”

Casey rolled her eyes at his obvious attempts to draw her on the issue, “We have to, this case is such a shit-show we have to work really closely together,”

“Casey, you seem really stressed out. Maybe you should talk to someone about it,” Elliot’s concern was genuine as he tailed after her,

“Being stressed out is part of my job, Elliot,” she sighed defensively, “It’s part of yours too, when did you last spend time with your kids?” she fixed him with another pointed glare before dipping away from him to search for some rogue casefiles she’d brought home several days ago,

“I spend as much time with them as I can and the rest of the time I’m keeping them safe by putting rapists and pedophiles behind bars,” it was the detective who was on the defensive now and he’d crossed his arms and stared hard at her as he perched against the back of her couch.

“How do you even handle having a life separate from what we do?” Casey asked wearily as she stared at her already overfull briefcase trying to work out how to fit the files currently in her hands in,

“Casey, you need something outside of this job.”

She spun irately to face him, “I play sports!”

“I mean you need _someone_ outside of this job.” A heavy silence hung between them for a few moments before as Casey looked down at her feet, shifting nervously on the spot as she put the files down.

“El, you know I can’t do that, you know what happened with Charlie,” Elliot sighed and pushed off from the couch, he gently touched her shoulder to make her look up at him,

“Maybe it’s time to give someone else a chance,” his smile was kind but the part of Casey that sparked with hope and agreement with what he was saying was drowned out by intense fear she had when confronted with her emotions. Typically she fell back on her usual caustic scorn,

“Well let me know if you find anyone who’s willing to put up with my shit,” she said sarcastically moving away from Elliot and throwing the last of her things into the suitcase and zipping it up.

“I’m ready to go now Detective,” she said, making it clear the conversation was over. Elliot rocked gently on his heels at her shutting down on him, but simply nodded his head,

“Let’s go then.”


	24. Chapter 24

**24.**

Casey stared straight ahead at the TV, absentmindedly flicking through the channels, trying not to think about how close Alex was to her. Without looking properly, she reached for the wine bottle to pour herself a top up, feeling a jolt of electricity as her hand accidentally collided with Alex’s, who had obviously had the same thought.

“Sorry,” mumbled Casey, shifting to look at the blonde,

“It’s okay,” Alex smiled, holding Casey’s gaze a second too long, “I’m guessing you want some more wine?”

“We’ve had a stressful day,”

“Yeah we have.” Alex sighed and looked away, glad Casey hadn’t pressed her for details about her meeting with Dani, the former detective’s words still raced around her mind: “ _Casey deserves to be happy_ ”. For a moment she thought she might say something about it to Casey, but more of Dani’s words surfaced “ _How is anyone supposed to compete with that?_ ”

Alex supressed a bitter chuckle, how indeed? How was she supposed to compete with this perception everyone had of her? Alex Cabot, back from the dead, as if she was somehow invulnerable, as if she went through all that and didn’t feel anything. That was the reason people believed in her – respected her – she was sure of it. That’s why she kept most of them at arm’s length, so they wouldn’t see her scars. She’d let Casey see them though, quite by accident, and she was sure any romantic intentions Casey had had towards her had vanished when she woke up to Alex screaming. Dani was right about some things at least, it was a shame, really.

“Alex?” Casey’s voice brought her back into the room and she shook her head lightly, trying to silence the thoughts running through her brain, “Can I get some wine now?” Alex looked down at her hand which was clutching the bottle, her knuckles white,

“Yeah, sorry, like I said – stressful day,” she began refilling Casey’s glass.

“I’m really proud of you Al,” said Casey, quite out of the blue. Alex stopped pouring the wine and lifted her eyes again to meet Casey’s steady gaze, “The way you’ve handled things today, the protective detail and everything, I know it brought up a lot of stuff for you.”

She glanced down and ran her thumb up and down the stem of her glass, “I know how hard it was for you to keep it together at the precinct, but you know you don’t have to do that with me right?” her green eyes flicked up to meet Alex’s blue ones. Alex smiled and swallowed lightly, the gentle movement of her throat catching Casey’s attention. The blonde replaced the bottle on the table and drew her legs onto the couch and up under her chin,

“Thanks Case,” she said quietly, hugging her legs to her, “You’re right, it’s been like one of my nightmares, except I can’t wake up.” She stretched her back out and leaned against the side of the arm rest instead, still trying to brush off how affected she actually was.

“Hey,” Casey reached out and placed a comforting hand on the side of Alex’s knee, “It’s okay, when you have your nightmares, are you alone?” Alex’s face scrunched up and she began to cry softly. She ducked her head against her raised legs, but eventually gave Casey a silent nod,

“Completely”, she sniffed avoiding Casey’s gaze, “That’s what it’s like, they send you somewhere and you’re totally on your own, you don’t even have yourself for company really because your life depends on learning to be someone else.”

“Well then this isn’t a nightmare,” said Casey firmly. Alex finally looked up at her, teary-eyed and slightly wounded, “In your nightmares you’re alone,” the redhead went on, “And right now you’re not alone, you’re still you, you’re still Alex Cabot and you have me. I’m not going anywhere.” She reached over and squeezed Alex’s hand where she was tightly gripping her own legs. The blonde looked up gratefully and loosened her white knuckle grip, she winced internally hoping she hadn’t accidently left bruises,

“I have felt better having you around,” she confessed, fully aware that it was a complete understatement. Alex swallowed lightly and decided to continue confessing certain secrets to Casey, “I used to carry a gun you know, when I first went into witness protection.”

“Did that make you feel better?”

“I don’t know, safer maybe, but I was always worried I’d panic and accidentally shoot someone innocent, so I just kept it locked up.” Alex smiled at Casey’s lighthearted chuckle at her expense, “It wouldn’t have been any help if they’d have found me anyway. I felt like I had to do something though, do you know what I mean?”

Casey nodded and swallowed hard, she looked away from Alex and toyed with her wine glass once more,

“After I was attacked in my office, I took so many self-defence classes. I spent stupid hours just working out at the kickboxing gym. I also slept with a softball bat by my bed, and a second one by the door.”

She put the wine glass down and turned her body on the couch, one leg tucked underneath her so she could face Alex properly. Alex enjoyed watching how Casey couldn’t help but talk with her hands,

“Even though they caught the guy I just couldn’t… “ Casey shook her head unable to find the right words and so changed tack with a small sigh, “We’re always telling victims that it’s not their fault, that not having self-defence training or being out late at night or whatever doesn’t make it their fault, and it doesn’t. But when it’s you…”

“When it’s you, and when you do a job like ours you think you ought to know how to keep yourself safe.” Both women just looked at each other quietly for a few moments,

“Do you still have the gun?” Casey finally ventured nervously. She was relieved when Alex shook her head. The blonde she straightened up once more and readjusted her long legs on the couch, unconsciously now mirroring Casey’s pose. Alex closed her eyes and stretched her arms out above her head, as if trying to shift the lingering feelings of insecurity off her own back. She missed Casey’s eyes running the length of her though, Casey’s eyes only snapped back to Alex’s face when the blonde resumed talking,

“I got rid of it when I came back to New York. My therapist thought it would be good for me, and besides there wasn’t a hit out on me anymore. I thought I’d feel more scared without it, but I don’t.”

“I don’t need a softball bat to sleep anymore,” offered Casey, unsure how to respond to Alex being so open.

“I’ve noticed,” a watery smile rose on Alex’s lips, being able to talk about the fear of it all with someone who understood felt like breathing fresh air after weeks of being indoors.

“Have you given up the kickboxing too?” her tone was lighter, matching the relief she was feeling,

“Not entirely,” admitted the redhead as she reached once more for her wine with a slightly ironic smile as she tipped the glass in salute to Alex, “It’s a good way to stay fit given all this.”

And Casey certainly _was_ fit, thought Alex, remembering the sight of her at the batting cages and the glimpse of abs she’d gotten the night they’d slept in the office. Realising that lusting after the woman sat so close to her was a potentially dangerous game to play with herself Alex tried to behave,

“Well I’ve got you to keep me safe then haven’t I?” she had aimed for sincere and grateful but her tone somehow came out far too teasing and borderline flirtatious once again.

“Yep,” replied Casey, flexing her biceps to show off, “I’ll protect you ma’am,” she added in an over-exaggerated accent. Alex rolled her eyes but laughed, letting her eyes linger on Casey’s toned arms for a moment or two longer than was necessarily appropriate between platonic … Friends? Temporary flatmates? Alex ruminated on how complex the situation she found herself in was and yet she still felt a thrill as she watched the blush rise up Casey’s cheeks as she realised Alex was staring. The blonde gave a wicked smile and reached over to pour herself more wine. There was a moment of quiet as they looked at each other.

“C’mere”, said Casey eventually, sensing Alex needed some reassurance. She opened her arms and invited the blonde to settle in her lap and lean against her, remembering how Alex took comfort from physical contact. Alex hesitated for a moment, knowing that accepting the comforting warmth of Casey’s arms would lead her a little further down this path which could only end in heartbreak. But she was so tired and she’d been so stressed worrying about how Casey felt and she knew that it would feel so good to just relax against her. Besides, she was only human, not some invulnerable ice-queen like people seemed to think. And so, Alex gave in in spite of her better judgement – maybe she could pretend just for tonight, and tomorrow she could start the process of getting over Casey. So she snuggled into the redhead with a satisfied sigh, arranging herself so she had her phone in one hand and wine in the other, utterly content. Casey circled an arm round Alex’s waist and grabbed the remote once again so as to stop her hand immediately tracing along Alex’s hip. She began flicking through the channels again hoping to find something quickly so they could both just relax,

“You have a lot of channels for someone who’s never home,” she remarked, resting her chin lightly on Alex’s head, enjoying the scent of her shampoo.

“Hmm? I don’t know really, it’s just regular cable right?”

“It’s more channels than I get,” Casey chuckled a little jealously. She also picked up her wine with her free hand and leaned back to take a sip noting with tortured pleasure that Alex’s body just instinctively moved with her own, “Oh there’s hockey on, is it ok if I watch it?”

Alex twisted awkwardly so she could look at her,

“Only if we can keep cuddling,” she smirked.

***

“You could’ve just said if you wanted to go to the zoo you know,” Alex’s voice was hushed as it broke the silence that had settled in the darkness of her bedroom.

“Hmm?” Casey rolled over to face her, just able to make out the shape of Alex’s profile as she laid on her back looking up at the ceiling. They hadn’t discussed where Casey would sleep, both too worried about making the other feel awkward. Casey had simply decided it was probably best she stayed close and followed Alex to her room when the blonde had said she was going to turn in. All to make Alex feel better of course. It had nothing to do with her own feelings, nothing at all.

“The zoo,” Alex turned onto her side to face Casey, her hands tucked together under her pillow, “I can get us a VIP tour,” Casey tried not to think about how Alex had said “us” instead of just “you”.

“Seriously?” the redhead laughed, “Is there anything your family connections can’t get you?”

“A guaranteed win in this trial?” Alex joked. Casey’s whole body contracted as she snorted with laughter, Alex was able to feel her movements through the mattress, although there was also enough light in the room for her to see that Casey had definitely ended up a little closer than she had been beofre

“Go on then, explain to me how the Cabot family is saving the rainforest or whatever,” Casey teased her with an almost childlike glee,

“The zoo is just one of the good causes we support,” Alex shrugged, Casey could sense movement more than see it, “And there are species closer to home than the rainforest that need saving too.” She sounded so earnest that Casey knew there must be more to the story, she propped herself up on one arm and prepared her cross-examination,

“And is your family in the business of saving those too?”

“Yes actually,” Alex’s eyes glinted with mischief in the darkness, she couldn’t ignore the butterflies in her stomach that came from seeing Casey gazing down at her whilst in bed. She adjusted slightly so her body was closer to the redhead’s. She knew she was playing a dangerous game again, but the pull Casey seemed to have over her was so strong, and the amount of wine she’d consumed meant she really didn’t care so much at this exact moment.

“Could you elaborate on that?” asked Casey, using her best courtroom voice. It made Alex giggle softly, relieving some of the tension that had built up,

“Well when my cousins and I were young, we were asked which animal we’d like to support. My cousins all chose the obvious things like pandas and tigers and gorillas.” Alex spoke softly with a gentle smile on her face but she continued to hold Casey’s curious gaze,

“So, what did you choose?” Casey’s courtroom persona had dropped in favour of genuine interest and she found herself leaning closer to Alex, unable to deny the electricity coursing through her. God, she wanted to know everything about this woman.

“The Nebraska toad,” said Alex without hesitation, completely deadpan and genuine.

Casey couldn’t help herself, she burst out into peals of laughter, collapsing back on the bed. Her head eventually came to rest on the pillow next to Alex’s.

“Okay I’ll bite, what the fuck is the Nebraska Toad?” Casey was so close to Alex now the blonde could feel the warmth emanating from her,

“It was the most endangered species!” Alex protested, feigning righteous indignation. Her heartbeat racing at the sight of Casey, mirth shining so evidently in her eyes despite the darkness of the room,

“It was extinct in the wild and it’s endemic to a certain area of north-east Nebraska. I donated the funds allocated to me to the enclosure and breeding programme and we were able to reintroduce it to the wild five years later.”

“How old were you?” asked Casey wheezing with laughter,

“Six,”

“I couldn’t spell endangered when I was six!”

“Could you even spell toad?” Casey couldn’t help but swat at her in retribution, making Alex cackle even louder, swatting back in return. She noticed Casey’s breath hitch and pupils dilate when she made contact just below her ribs, accompanied by a slightly shrill giggle and wriggling away. Casey tried to cover up her reaction by calling Alex out instead,

“Rude. How come they didn’t name the toad after you?”

“It already had a name Casey, that’s not how science works.” Alex shifted closer to Casey to deliver her put down, the redhead’s eyes dropped to Alex’s hands which were twitching on the bedsheets, which made Casey mirror her position, her arms braced in front of her. Still – as is so typical for a lawyer – she had to have the last word, even though she knew it would wind the other woman up further. 

“Oh I don’t know, I think Cabotus Toadus has a nice ring to it”

“Did you even learn any Latin in law school?” Alex teased with a snort, a wicked glint in her eye as she again shifted her hands closer to Casey,

“I did, maybe just Cabot Toad would be better…” Casey pretended to be thinking hard and took her eyes of Alex for a second. The blonde saw her opportunity and struck, moving her long fingers to tickle at Casey’s side. The redhead’s reaction was instantaneous, she shrieked and tried to roll away but she was caught in the abundance of pillows and the thick luxury duvet that now trapped the lower half of her body.

“Alex, stop!” she squealed, writhing around, trying to get control of herself long enough to retaliate. Trying not to think about the blunt scratching of Alex’s nails against her skin where her pyjama top had ridden up slightly. Luckily, she was so ticklish she really didn’t have time to think about that. Alex was looking at her like a cat with a mouse, toying with her continuously, pretending to relent slightly just before returning to tickling her, taking note on the exact point just below her ribs that elicited the loudest reaction from Casey.

“I’ll teach you to laugh at my philanthropic efforts,” she joked, feeling only slightly guilty about how much she was enjoying the feeling of Casey’s bare skin under her hands. Her guilt dissipated quickly though when Casey finally managed to gain some control of her limbs and seized one of the many pillows from behind hr, using it to swat heartily at Alex to fend her off.

Alex backed away, chuckling loudly and trying to counter the swinging pillow with her forearms, but the brief respite from being tickled emboldened Casey and she started to gain the upper hand. Using her impressive core strength – and inadvertently distracting Alex completely with the clear view of her flexing abs as she moved – Casey was able to push herself onto her knees to get better leverage with her current weapon of choice. Realising she was now at a distinct disadvantage Alex grabbed for another pillow to try and defend herself but she was little match for Casey’s strength and well-practised swings.

“Okay, okay you win!” huffed the blonde breathlessly eventually, sinking back into one of the few pillows that still remained on the bed. She was breathing heavily, a grin plastered across her face, her hair tousled, and the happiest she had felt in a long time. Casey chucked the pillow she was holding to one side and laid down again, propping herself up on one arm. Her heart felt like it might jump right out of her chest at the sight of the blonde below her.

She gazed at Alex for a moment, then she caught a now familiar glint in the other woman’s eye. Alex thought she was fast, but Casey was faster. She’d seen Alex’s hand darting towards her ribs and caught it effortlessly, instinctively leaning over her to pin it back above Alex’s head.

Both women’s breath caught in their throats as they became aware of the position Casey had managed to manoeuvre them into. She was practically on top of Alex, straddling across her hips and pinning her arm above her, their faces dangerously close. For a moment everything stopped.

Casey was aware she could feel Alex’s pulse thrumming rapidly from where her fingers wrapped around her wrist. Both set of eyes roamed across the other’s face, hopping from eyes to lips and back again. Almost imperceptibly, Alex began to slowly lift her head. Casey stayed where she was, transfixed. She could feel Alex’s warm breath on her mouth, getting closer. She closed her eyes and took as deep a breath as she could manage. She knew what she had to do,

“Al, I’m really tired,” she said quietly, turning her head and flopping down on to her back, rolling far enough away so she was no longer touching Alex. She felt the loss of contact immediately; pulling away had felt like ripping her heart through her chest. But she’d had to, she couldn’t let herself kiss Alex, not after a bottle of wine and when she was so vulnerable earlier in the night. Kissing Alex would be a recipe for disaster. She knew that right now it would only lead to more, and there was no chance anything between them could last. No, it was better to pull away now and feel this heartache than to give in to temptation and have it hurt even more down the line.

It took several long moments for the blonde to respond and Casey was so nervous, convinced Alex was going to demand an explanation for such a sudden change in Casey’s demeanour – even if she didn’t broach it as the sudden rejection that it had been. Casey was even half convinced that Alex wouldn’t demand she leave her bed, or the apartment, and Casey knew that she just wouldn’t be able to do that, not tonight.

“Okay”, Alex’s voice sounded hollow in the darkness but Casey was still palpably relieved, “G’night Casey.”

Casey couldn’t help the tears that were silently tracking down her face – she didn’t know if it was the self-inflicted heartbreak, relief or inherent frustration at not being able to be with Alex how she so desperately wanted but after such a long day she couldn’t hold them back any longer – again. She hoped at least that Alex wouldn’t notice the crying in her voice,

“Night Alex.”

That should’ve been the end of it really, but she couldn’t help reaching out her hand out behind her in the darkness to find Alex’s. Immediately the blonde woman took hold of it, her long fingers curling lightly around Casey’s palm. She’d meant what she’d said earlier, she wasn’t going anywhere, no matter how much it was going to hurt.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is mostly plot, I actually wanted to post it with the next chapter as well but I have had a crazy couple of weeks so I don't have enough written :( Anyway, hope you all enjoy!

**25.**

Alex woke up as sunlight began peeking through the curtains, she took a deep breath and looked over at Casey sleeping peacefully next to her, surrounded by a heap of disorganised pillows. She felt an uncomfortable heaviness in the pit of her stomach as memories of the previous night came flooding back, the momentary elation followed by the very definite rejection. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to alleviate the throbbing sensation in her temples. It served her right really, she’d let herself indulge in Casey, pretending the redhead wanted her, pretending her feelings were reciprocated and now she was paying the price. It was time to get up and start the process of getting over Casey.

Her stomach grumbled loudly as she poured herself coffee, eating breakfast had never been a habit of hers but after just a few days waking up with Casey and here was her body demanding food at this ungodly hour. She hummed to herself as she scanned the cupboard, surprised at how much food was actually in her kitchen – enough food for two people, for the first time in as long as she could remember. She found herself wondering how long the arrangement would last, whether Casey would still be here by the time the cupboards were emptying? Would they have to go to the store together? Maybe the whole thing would be over in a few days, there’d be a break in the case and they’d catch whoever bugged the office and Alex would have her apartment to herself again. Neither outcome seemed entirely appealing.

In the end she settled on cereal – there was no chance of her setting fire to the kitchen with that – and perched at the breakfast bar with her usual crossword. Chewing slowly she watched all the boxes on the page blur together, her senses on edge waiting to hear the any movement from the bedroom. After a few moments she pushed the crossword away, internally rehearsing the excuses she would give Casey when she brought up the previous night and the almost-kiss. She’d been exhausted and stressed, the wine had got to her quicker than usual, it was the heat of the moment, just a physical response to being pinned to the bed by a beautiful woman. Should she say beautiful? Or just settle for attractive? She sighed and rubbed her temples, watching as the rest of her cereal turned to mush at the bottom of the bowl.

That was how Casey found her a little while later, staring into space, her coffee gone cold.

“Hey you,” said the redhead gently, “How are you feeling?” Casey’s voice was laced with concern and husky with sleep. The sound of it sent Alex’s emotions haywire.

“Exhausted,” replied the blonde honestly, “Yesterday was a lot.”

Casey smiled at her sympathetically, having made her own decision not to mention the almost-kiss. If they didn’t talk about it, it basically never happened right?

“I know, I still can’t believe Cragen has been sneaking off to see a gibbon.” That at least drew a smile from Alex,

“There’s coffee in the pot but it’s cold,” she said, reluctantly standing up, sure that the best thing would be to spend as little social time as possible with Casey.

“I’ll make a fresh pot, do you want some?” Alex nodded,

“I need to go change,” she said simply, “Then I’m calling Liv, there’s someone I want her check out from that list.” She turned quickly and left the room, hardly a glance at Casey and certainly not a touch. Casey looked at the half-eaten bowl of cereal on the counter, her own appetite had totally vanished.

***

Casey had never been so grateful to be overwhelmed with work before. She and Alex might be living together but they just didn’t have time to talk about anything personal, especially not that almost-kiss that continued to overwhelm her subconscious thoughts. Alex seemed particularly keen to avoid her, working through mealtimes whenever possible. Mostly Casey was back sleeping in the guest room, it’s once comforting sheets now seeming cold and impossibly vast. Every few nights she’d wake up to find Alex in the kitchen, shaking from a nightmare and then they’d end up back in the blonde’s bed. Casey holding her tightly and murmuring sweet reassurances into her hair.

There were only a few days left before their trial was due to start and the press attention had ramped up massively, Alec Cartelli and his friends Stirling Miller and Hunter Dietrichson were splashed across every newspaper. Casey always found the media’s obsession with the killers rather than the victim particularly galling. Especially in cases like this. The Moran case was also due to go to trial in the coming week, with grease-weasel Garrett having finally found a zipper expert willing to testify on behalf of a serial flasher. So, all in all Casey and Alex were both rushed off their feet and, ever the professionals, didn’t have time to acknowledge the intense awkwardness which had seeped into their personal relationship.

Liv had noticed though. Her little jibes and jokes had stopped although she really hadn’t had a chance to talk to either of them about it. Instead she would offer a gentle distraction when she caught one of them staring longingly at the other across the room, reminding them of yet another task which needed completing. And, before any of them even knew it, the trial was in full swing.

***

Alec Cartelli’s lawyer had done a good job. He’d somehow managed to make his client look a little younger and a whole lot more innocent in a suit that was slightly too big for him and a pair of glasses which he didn’t really need. His hair was mostly slicked down, with a calculated tousle which Casey knew was designed to be endearing. When he walked past her she noticed he was wearing a set of cufflinks shaped like gavels which obviously belonged to his father. The whole thing enraged Casey. She hated how much of a trial depended on how the victim and the defendant _looked_. It was always much, much easier to prosecute overweight, hairy old men like Moran than angelic looking college kids like Cartelli. Hell, even the pasty guys with bad personal hygiene who lived in their mothers’ basements and downloaded the most horrendous images of abuse now fit the public perception of pedophiles. But kids like Cartelli? They were the worst kind, and juries had a hard time believing it. The ignorance was often astounding, Casey shuddered to think at the amount of times she’d been faced with comments such as “Well he just doesn’t _look_ like a rapist does he?”

As Casey sat next to Alex at their little courtroom table she felt a familiar unease rising, and for a change it had nothing to do with the woman sitting next to her. She remembered the last time she’d had three boys who’d committed a crime like this, they’d raped and killed a Canadian girl, before turning on and murdering the one who’d agreed to testify against them. It was a judge’s office which had been bugged on that occasion. One of those boys had died, and Casey had never quite stopped carrying the guilt, after all it was her who had pushed him to testify against his cousin and their friend. So really, it was her that had got him killed. She knew it did no good to think like that, but she carried the weight of it with her, and it made her even more determined to get justice for little Amelia Santos.

“I really want to get these guys,” she whispered under her breath, just loud enough for Alex to hear. The blonde turned to her and nodded,

“I know Case, and we will.” Casey felt her stomach flip at the nickname and she concealed it with a determined smile.

Just as court was about to begin for the day Casey felt a light touch on her arm, she turned round to find Liv, looking at her with concerned eyes,

“I need to talk to you, it’s about the case.” Alex and Casey exchanged a glance before Alex looked up at Judge Petrovsky, who glared back and tapped her watch to indicate she wouldn’t tolerate a late start.

“How long will it take?” asked Casey quietly, Liv shrugged,

“Half an hour maybe?”

“There’s no way we’re getting a continuance off Petrovsky,” whispered Alex, all three women shot a glance up at the stern looking judge,

“I’ll go”, said Casey, “It sounds important.”

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important,” Liv pointed out. Alex looked from one to the other,

“Go,” she said eventually, “I’ll be fine, first witness today is Warner.” Casey nodded affirmatively, she knew Alex could handle it,

“I’ll be back as soon as I can, good luck Al,” she said, grabbing her briefcase,

“You’d better come back with something good,” said Alex, her eyes glinting as she shifted effortlessly into her courtroom persona,

“Have I ever let you down?” Casey smiled. Liv rolled her eyes and practically dragged the redhead out of the room.

***

“So what’s so important you had to drag me out of court?” Casey and Liv had installed themselves on a bench near the courtroom, sipping from takeaway coffee cups,

“It’s about the bug,” said Liv quietly, glancing around to check who was nearby. Casey swallowed hard, remembering her earlier trip down memory lane.

“Do you know who planted it?” Liv shook her head,

“No, but we think we’ve got who was blackmailing Dani’s CO.”

“George Anderson?” Casey asked, dredging the name up from her memory.

“That’s the one,” said Liv, taking a long drink of her coffee, “Thing is, we couldn’t find any evidence of blackmail at all. He claims he deleted the anonymous email, but the techs couldn’t find any trace of it having ever existed.” Casey raised an eyebrow,

“Maybe he just has really good scrubbing software,” Liv shook her head,

“The guy can barely use google, you should see his entries on the database, they’re a disaster.”

“So you think he’s lying?” Casey shifted slightly, it was spring but there was still a chill in the air. It was New York, after all. Liv glanced around again, resisting the urge to wave at Alex and Casey’s protective detail who had installed themselves on the courthouse steps.

“Yeah, he must be.”

“I thought he gave you names further up the chain?”

“He did, they checked out, but they all deny blackmailing him, even though they admitted to a string of other corruption offences.”

“So you think he’s more involved than he’s been letting on?”

“We did some deeper background on him,” Liv continued, “Turns out he had a scholarship to one of the schools which the Titus Thule Foundation recruits their volunteers from.”

“The plot thickens,” murmured Casey, her eyes roaming over the bustle of people coming and going from the courthouse. Liv shot her a strange look,

“Sorry, Alex likes to have her old detective shows on in the background when she’s working at home, I must’ve absorbed more of them than I realised.”

“I thought that interest was only part of her cover identity?” Liv teased

“Well that’s what she’d have everyone believe,” Casey smiled, she leaned to the side to nudge her shoulder against Liv’s,

“Did you know she saved an endangered species of toad when she was like six?” That made Liv cackle,

“Absolutely not, but there’s something very Alex about that,”

“Isn’t there just?” Casey laughed, she suddenly stopped, her face falling as she remembered the consequences of the toad conversation.

“Are things okay between the two of you?” Liv ventured,

“We’re both really busy,” said Casey vaguely. She became nervous at the direction the detective was taking the conversation, “Did you find any link between Sergeant Anderson and Inspector Dietrichson?”

“The defendant’s father?” Liv asked, “I mean they were at school together,”

“The same school the TTF is involved with?” Liv nodded, “And you didn’t mention this before?” exclaimed Casey incredulously,

“We only just checked it out,” Liv defended, “We thought Anderson was a small fry in all this but it looks like he has links to the top.”

“We have to get him on the stand,” said Casey, a look of determination settling on her features,

“How?” asked Liv, “He’s not relevant enough to the murder,”

“Dani is a witness,” Casey mused, “Alex is using her to prove there is something suspicious about the laptop, even if we can’t introduce it into evidence.”

“So you think you can get him in to corroborate Dani’s testimony?”

Casey nodded,

“And when we do I’ll ask him all about his connection to the defendant’s father, see if we can get him to let something slip on the stand.”

“Sounds like a risky strategy, I can’t imagine Petrovsky will like it.”

“Alex will make sure we stay on the right side of her.” Liv smiled, Casey’s unshakeable faith in Alex was adorable.

“Have you…?” Liv began, Casey interrupted her, sensing another question about Alex was on the horizon,

“I’d best get back, Alex might need me,” she said standing up, clutching her half-full coffee cup a little tighter than was strictly necessary. Liv smiled knowingly,

“I’ll catch up with you later then?” she asked,

“Yeah,” said Casey, “I’ll call when I’ve run it past Alex.”


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy fic Friday everyone, hope you're all keeping safe and well x

**26.**

Alex Cabot in court was a sight to see. That’s what Casey thought as she scribbled down notes intermittently, trying not to appear too transfixed by the blonde lawyer as she interrogated a very flustered looking Mrs. Cartelli about the whereabouts of her son on the night in question.

“So, you told police that your son and his friends were at your apartment all night?”

“That’s correct,” the woman in the witness box nodded stoically. They’d had to call her as a hostile witness and Casey felt a strange thrill at the thought of watching Alex get the truth out of her. The blonde took a step back to their table to theatrically check her notes, meeting Casey’s gaze with a quick but confident uptick of her eyebrow that made Casey’s insides clench, knowing that their proximity meant no one else could see the motion. Alex spun back to the witness stand and stalked forward, the entire court’s eyes following her movement as she came to a stop directly in front of Mrs Cartelli,

“So how would you explain a witness identifying your son and his friends leaving the apartment block via the service entrance at around 10pm?” Alex narrowed her eyes and tilted her head as if genuinely curious, making sure to shoot a knowing glance at the jury.

“He must be mistaken, or lying,” Mrs Cartelli pursed her lips,

“Why would he be lying?” Casey enjoyed watching Alex examine a witness this way, her questions carefully crafted to be disarmingly straightforward,

“I wouldn’t know,”

“Surely you have some idea?”

“Objection! Calls for speculation,” the Cartelli lawyer chimed in, Casey glared over at him. She only vaguely recognised him, his clients were usually so high profile that if their cases even made it to trial they were well above Casey’s pay grade to prosecute, but she knew who he was: Grady Rae, the other half of Garret-Rae solicitors. He was handsome, she supposed, in an oddly manufactured sort of way, certainly nicer to look at than grease weasel Garrett, but he always seemed to be wearing a smug smile that made her skin crawl. And she definitely didn’t like the way he looked at Alex. Petrovsky glanced down at the defendants and then back to Alex,

“Mr. Rae is right Miss Cabot, objection sustained.”

Casey studied Alex’s face, she was doing a great job of appearing unfazed, but Casey knew her well enough to recognise the slight tension at the corner of her mouth. The blonde took a step towards the witness box and gave a casual wave of her hand,

“Let me rephrase, can you think of any reason someone might want to make your son appear guilty?” she took a moment to note Petrovsky glaring at her, “I mean, have you made any enemies recently?”

“Money always makes enemies, you should know that Miss Cabot,” spat Mrs.Cartelli. Alex’s cheeks coloured slightly,

“So you think maybe he’s lying because he resents your family’s wealth?”

“Objection! Please your honor…”

“You’re on thin ice Miss Cabot, change the subject,” instructed Petrovsky. Alex gave a small huff which Casey found endearing, the redhead did her best to supress a small smile but couldn’t help it when Alex glanced over and caught her eye.

“Okay,” began Alex again, taking a couple of steps back to appear less confrontational, “Is it normal for your adult son and his friends to have sleepovers at your home? Surely they’re a little old for slumber parties?” she gave a wry smile.

“They like to spend time together, sometimes it gets late and it makes more sense for them to stay over.” Alex began pacing thoughtfully in front of the witness box, keeping her tone light as if carrying on a conversation at a charity dinner,

“But this was planned wasn’t it?”

“Yes, the boys are spending time together before they head off to college in the fall.”

“Do they disturb you? I imagine college-aged boys can get quite loud,”

“No, they’re no trouble at all, they usually stay in the guest wing.” _Jesus_ , thought Casey as she lowered her head as if to focus on her notetaking but in reality it was to hide her instinctive eyeroll at such a blithe statement, _an apartment with a guest wing_. The redhead smiled to herself all the same, Alex was clever – and she knew it. Casey recognised the gleam in Alex’s eyes, the straightening of her posture – if she were a prize fighting boxer she’d be dancing her feet on the canvas ready to spot the opening for the killer blow and Casey just knew the commanding ADA was now primed to undercut and stun the defence with her next question. Casey just knew Alex was now fixing Mrs Cartelli with a hard stare, those strong blue eyes boring into her. The redhead’s smile dropped as she remembered those eyes being locked with hers in an entirely different scenario, god she’d felt as if she could drown in them…

“So they could be being as loud as they like and you wouldn’t have heard them?” Alex’s voice broke her train of thought and Casey guiltily returned her focus to the trial,

“I didn’t say that,” said Mrs. Cartelli shortly, immediately realising her mistake.

“Do you sleep well Mrs. Cartelli?” Alex asked suddenly, stopping her pacing in front of the witness box and turning to look directly at the older woman. Incidentally, she’d also stopped directly in front of Casey, who couldn’t help flicking her eyes up and down Alex’s body, her gaze lingering on the blonde’s toned legs where they disappeared into the hem of her well-fitting pencil skirt. She chided herself silently, here was Alex delivering a brilliant performance in court and all Casey could think about was pushing up her skirt…

“I don’t see how that’s relevant,” replied Mrs. Cartelli haughtily,

“Neither do I,” piped up Rae

“A little latitude your honor?” Alex looked pleadingly at Petrovsky,

“Get to the point Miss Cabot,” the judge acquiesced, “Objection overruled, the witness will answer.” The middle aged woman in the witness box looked daggers at Alex,

“Not since my son was arrested and accused of murder.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Alex, her voice smooth and sincere, using her social training to turn the situation to her advantage, “Did you sleep well before?” The older woman hesitated, “May I remind you you’re under oath?” Alex prompted.

“No, I wasn’t sleeping well before.”

“Did you see a doctor about your sleep?”

“Yes, our family doctor,” Mrs. Cartelli went pale, her voice was becoming more and more hoarse as she tried to almost shrink in on herself to get away from Alex’s line of questioning,

“And what did he recommend?” Alex had taken a few steps away from the witness box to ensure the jury had a clear view of Mrs. Cartelli as she was made to unravel her son’s alibi. The blonde ADA leaned back gently on the table where Casey was sat, causing the redhead’s heart to almost jump out of her chest. Alex in court had this energy about her, a kind of cool confidence that Casey found utterly irresistible. In some ways this was Alex at her best, eloquent and erudite, swaggering around as if she could bend the room itself to her will.

“He recommended some medication,”

“Sleeping tablets?” Alex’s hands had come down either side of her waist to rest on the edge of the table. For Casey though all this did was frame how Alex’s ass was just there, perched within touching distance of her own hands. She dragged her eyes away, trying desperately not to linger on how long Alex’s legs looked from this angle, and back up to the witness stand as the silence in the courtroom built awaiting a response to Alex’s far from innocuous query,

“Yes,” Mrs. Cartelli’s answer was a barely audible whisper, she couldn’t hold anyone’s gaze and was evidently fidgeting in her seat. The corners of Alex’s mouth twitched upwards as she sensed this particular victory was at hand,

“And were you having trouble sleeping on the night in question?” Alex’s hands rose to from the table to rest in front of her, the motion making Casey’s eyes fall back to watch how Alex’s suit jacket was now pulled tight around her hips inadvertently accentuating the curves and making Casey’s throat run dry,

“Yes,” Mrs Cartelli’s whispered answer let Casey drag her thoughts away from Alex to refocus on her dismantling of the boys’ alibi, 

“So what time did you take your sleeping tablet?” Alex pushed away from the table after her question and Casey gave a quiet sigh of relief as she watched Alex pace expectantly for an answer,

“I don’t remember.”

“What time do you usually take it?” Alex had paused physically but immediately knew how to pivot her questioning, not letting Mrs Cartelli weasel her way out of responding. Casey found herself admiring Alex again, professionally of course…

“Around 8pm,” Mrs Cartelli finally conceded with a sigh,

“So isn’t it likely that you took a sleeping tablet at 8pm on the night Amelia Santos was killed, and therefore are in no position to comment on whether your son and his friends stayed at the apartment all night?” Alex crossed her arms in front of her resolutely as she gracefully settled back on the same spot of the table and fixed the squirming witness with her signature hard stare,

“I suppose,” replied Mrs. Cartelli through gritted teeth. Alex shot a triumphant glance back at Casey over her shoulder before standing with a swagger that Casey was sure only she could see,

“Nothing further.”

***

“Are you feeling ok?” asked Alex. It was a few days after Alex had destroyed the boys’ alibi and the prosecution’s case was in full swing. The two ADAs were leaning against the wall of the courthouse, having taken advantage of a short recess to refill on coffee. Casey had been surprised when Alex stayed close to her. She was even more surprised that the blonde had begun a conversation that wasn’t work related.

“I’m pretty exhausted, and I have opening statements on the Moran case tomorrow,” Casey tried to keep the conversation in safe territory, secretly terrified that Alex might ask her about the almost-kiss.

“Sorry I woke you last night,” the blonde whispered quietly, avoiding Casey’s eyes as she continued picking at the plastic lid of her cup. Casey watched the uncharacteristically nervous tic for a moment, wishing she could allow herself to reach out and physically still Alex’s fidgeting hands with her own. She swallowed back a tired sigh instead,

“It’s ok, when I said I wasn’t going anywhere I meant it, I’ll always be here for you Alex,” Casey stared straight ahead, desperately fighting the tears she could feel pricking at the back of her eyes. She wished she could be there for Alex properly, wished she could give herself completely and totally to the woman next to her. But Alex probably wasn’t interested in anything more than a fling, and even if she did want more Casey knew she would only screw it up. Either way one of them would get their heart broken. It was better this way.

“Thank you Case, you don’t know what it means…” the words stuck in Alex’s throat, she wanted to tell Casey how much she missed her, missed how they were. How much she wished she could take back that little movement of her head which had ruined everything between them. But she couldn’t say that, not now,

“You know Dani is the next witness right?” she said instead. Casey sighed and pushed off the wall with her shoulder, careful not to spill her coffee,

“Yeah I know,”

“Are you nervous?” Alex was looking directly at her now, stormy blue eyes full of concern,

“Should I be?” Casey sounded defensive, she could feel hot tension prickling down her spine.

“No, I must’ve gone over her testimony ten times. It’ll be fine,” Alex’s assertion was somewhat unconvincing. She shuffled imperceptibly on the spot as she worked out how to phrase her next point,

“The defence might bring up your history with her.”

“I know! I’m ready for that. It was nothing, just a fling.” Casey looked down at her feet. She knew she was being snappy and she hated her pale complexion at this moment because she knew her face was flushing red. Alex gave the other woman a moment to compose herself and used the lull to cast her mind back to her conversation with Dani. It was clearly much more than just a fling to the former detective. Surely Casey had known that?

 _“She deserves to be happy_.”

Alex shook her head to clear it, she was sick of hearing that conversation with Dani playing over and over. At least after today she’d never have to look at or speak to her ever again.

“We should be getting back inside,” she said with a sigh, almost reluctant to take any step away from Casey,

“Let’s do this,” agreed the redhead, desperately trying to ignore the tight knot of fear which had formed in the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t wait for this part of the trial to be over.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you all get a bonus chapter today because @IfYouThinkSo managed to finish her computer science assignment early and I promised her I'd post an extra chapter if she managed it... so enjoy!

**27.**

Casey tried to keep her eyes firmly on her notes during Dani’s testimony, but the sound of Alex’s voice kept dragging her gaze upwards. They’d hardly discussed the former detective’s testimony. Casey was happy to let Alex take the reins, pleased to have an excuse to avoid spending too long with Dani. Still, she was surprised to see how gentle Alex was with her, how she calmly asked questions and made a big deal out of the threat to Dani’s daughter. Surely, the understanding attitude was for the benefit of the jury, but Casey couldn’t help wondering what had passed between the two women since the day Dani had called her in a panic. She felt a twinge of something that might have been jealousy, it seemed an age since Alex was quite so soft with her. Now she felt like the blonde could hardly stand to be in a room with her for too long. She knew it was all her fault, she’d let things go too far, in trying to stop Alex getting hurt maybe she’d hurt her more… Noticing her pen had stilled she forced herself to look up and focus on the trial.

“So, you decided pretty quickly to comply with the demands of your blackmailer?” Alex was saying,

“Yes, you would too if it was your child at risk,” Dani replied calmly, her response genuine if obviously pre-prepared. Alex nodded sympathetically,

“And the request was very specific?”

“Yes. I was to remove a laptop from evidence, they provided me with the log number and everything.”

“So how did you go about it?” Alex began her usual measured pacing, looking regularly between Dani and the jury as the detective answered her question,

“Well I followed Detective Benson for a day or two, I didn’t want to risk following anyone else who might recognise me better.”

“Why follow anyone at all, why not just take the laptop straight away?” Alex stopped pacing and fixed her with a quizzical look,

“It was at the lab, I knew the easiest time to take it was when it was in transit. That’s the weakest point in the chain of custody.”

“You seem to know what you’re doing, have you done anything like this before?”

“No of course not, I only did this to protect my daughter,” the detective stared straight ahead,

“Do you know the identity of your blackmailer?” Here Dani took a deep breath, she still felt a good deal of loyalty towards her sergeant, despite what he had done.

“Yes,” she replied simply, gazing steadily at Alex,

“Can you tell the court who was blackmailing you?” she asked, making a sweeping gesture with her arm,

“My sergeant, George Anderson,” a shocked murmur rippled across the courtroom,

“Your commanding officer coerced you into stealing evidence?” Alex feigned disbelief, echoing the mood of the court. She moved closer to the witness box so she was almost leaning against it. Casey felt another twinge of jealousy seeing how physically close Alex was to Dani.

“Yes,” Dani had obviously been told to keep her answers short, she kept her eyes trained on Alex. It was a technique they usually used with nervous witnesses, not experienced cops. Casey knew Alex must’ve engineered it to keep Dani’s gaze away from her, so she could keep her mind on the case. Her stomach still twisted uncomfortably in the knowledge that Alex had thought about her when preparing Dani’s testimony, knowing that Alex thought about her at all brought a whole host of conflicting emotions to the surface that Casey hastily tried to bat back down.

“Why would he do that?” Alex continued, still pretending to be shocked by Dani’s revelation, her deep blue eyes apparently searching the detective’s for answers.

“Objection! Calls for speculation,” Rae’s smug voice echoed across the courtroom. Casey supressed a smile as she saw Alex shoot him a death glare. The blonde took a few steps back from the witness box to regroup.

“Sustained, stick to the facts Miss Cabot,” Petrovsky sounded tired, she’d spent a lot of time putting up with Alex pushing the boundaries in her courtroom. 

“To the best of your knowledge, was he acting alone?” Alex rephrased,

“He told me that…”

“Objection! Hearsay,” Rae interjected again. Casey was already sick of hearing his voice today and he hadn’t even begun his cross examination.

“Sustained,” sighed Petrovsky. Alex gave a small huff of frustration and the corners of Casey’s mouth twitched up in a small smile, god she was adorable. Her smile soon fell when she noticed Dani giving her a smirk from the witness stand, she rolled her eyes in response and Dani looked back towards Alex.

“Is this behaviour out of character for him?”

“Yes, before this I trusted him completely, I can’t believe he’d do this without pressure from above.” Dani’s response was calm and careful, Alex shot a triumphant glance at Rae who was obviously trying to come up with a reason to object but couldn’t.

“Were you ever informed as to why the laptop in question was so significant?” Alex took a few paces towards the jury, passing close enough to Casey that she could smell her perfume. She couldn’t stop her nostrils from flaring as she subconsciously inhaled deeply, she just wanted to be wrapped up in Alex’s arms right now…

“I was told it contained incriminating evidence, I wasn’t told what the evidence was or who it incriminated though,” Dani gave another rehearsed answer, keeping her voice calm and steady.

“In your opinion as a detective…”

“Objection!”

“… Former detective,” Alex scowled at Rae as she corrected herself, “Would an item such as a personal laptop contain a lot of evidence?” The blonde ADA was now leaning nonchalantly on the corner of the table where Casey sat, drawing the redhead’s attention to her legs once more. Casey caught her lower lip between her teeth and dragged her eyes away before anyone noticed her staring, it had become a torturously familiar pattern of behaviours over the past few days.

“It would depend on the case but yes, usually there is a lot of information on one. We live our lives online now.”

“That’s certainly true,” Alex twisted slightly to give the jury an ingratiating smile, “And is this information normally related to the person who owns the laptop?” She pushed up off the edge of the table and approached Dani again,

“Yes, of course, as I said our whole lives are online.” Casey knew where this line of questioning was going, Alex’s intelligence never stopped surprising her.

“So, in your opinion as a former detective, the information on the laptop you were asked to steal is most likely to relate to its owner?” Alex waved her hand slightly as she spoke, as though she was coming up with her questions spontaneously.

“I would expect that to be the case, yes,” Dani responded carefully.

“So, just to be clear, your sergeant George Anderson threatened you into stealing a laptop which contained potentially incriminating evidence against its owner, Alec Cartelli?” Alex took a few determined steps towards the jury, punctuating her question with a flick of her long fingers. Casey tried not to stare at them.

“Objection!” Rae leapt out of his seat, looking really rather flustered, his normally perfectly over-coiffed hair rumpled.

“Withdrawn,” said Alex coolly as she turned back to the prosecutions table, “Nothing further.”

***

Dani looked decidedly more nervous when Rae began his cross examination of her. During Alex’s questioning she’d looked a little uncomfortable but in control overall. Now she looked like she might throw up at any moment. Casey couldn’t blame her, she felt much the same. It didn’t help that Alex was now sitting right next to her and kept reaching across to leaf through papers or pick up her coffee, brushing against Casey almost every time she did so. Occasionally, one of Alex’s thighs would bump against Casey’s beneath the table, sending an electric thrill through her and doing absolutely nothing to relieve the unease which coursed through her in waves.

Rae’s cross examination started out innocuously enough, he brought up a couple of marks on Dani’s police record and tried to emphasise the severity of her helping a fugitive and stealing evidence, suggesting that her motive didn’t lessen the seriousness of the offence. It was standard and expected but Casey couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that was crawling up her spine. For her part, Dani answered honestly and succinctly, though not exactly calmly as Rae tried to question her principles. Then he started in on the case specifics,

“How exactly did Sergeant Anderson contact you with his request?”

“He called me into his office and told me to do it, or else.”

“So there’s no written evidence of this alleged blackmail? No emails or text messages, not even a record of a phone call?”

“Objection!” called Alex, standing up, “Sergeant Anderson is on the prosecution witness list and will provide testimony which corroborates the witness’s statement.”

“Your honor, he’s a co-conspirator, his testimony would require independent corroboration,” Rae threw an arm out dramatically. Petrovsky looked between the two animated lawyers,

“We’ll address that issue when we come to it. Objection overruled, the witness will answer.” Casey felt Alex tense up beside her, the blonde staring steadfastly ahead, her jaw set. In an attempt to get her to relax Casey nudged her gently with her elbow, Alex sat down gently and turned to look at her. Casey gave her a reassuring nod, things were going okay so far, Rae hadn’t mentioned Casey and Dani’s personal relationship. Alex rewarded Casey with a hint of smile and she felt a gentle warmth spread through her, it seemed ages since Alex had smiled just for her.

“No, there’s no record of the blackmail, he’s too clever for that.” Dani said, answering the earlier question.

“So there’s no evidence that he actually threatened your daughter?”

“Objection!” Alex didn’t bother getting to her feet this time, she just looked exasperatedly at Petrovsky,

“Rephrase Mr. Rae,”

“So, apart from your testimony, this court has not yet been presented with any evidence that Sergeant Anderson coerced you into stealing the laptop?”

“Not as far as I know,” Dani admitted through gritted teeth. Casey knew she was close to exploding and hoped Rae would end his questioning soon.

“So, how can the jury be certain of your motivation?” Rae spun to face the jury, his arms raising in a questioning shrug as if trying to demonstrate he was doing the jury a favour in pointing this out. “Tell me Ms Beck,” he spun back to face Dani “What’s your relationship to ADA Casey Novak?” he was fixing the former detective with a piercing stare now. “For the benefit of the jury ADA Novak is the attractive redhead sitting second chair to ADA Cabot” he added tilting his head in Casey’s direction but refusing to take his eyes off of Dani.

Dani swallowed hard and looked towards Casey with apologetic eyes, evidently on the verge of tears. Casey glanced aside and tried to keep her breathing under control, going for apparent nonchalance despite knowing this turn of events could ruin the case, even her career if it went particularly badly. She felt Alex’s leg press against hers in a gesture of reassurance, but it only served to make it more difficult to control her breathing.

“We used to work together, she was the ADA assigned to the Special Victims Unit when I joined it,” Dani’s voice was quiet,

“And did you stay in touch after you left the unit?” asked Rae, a sickening grin plastered across his face,

“Objection! Relevance?” Alex practically flew out of her seat, drawing attention to the two of them,

“Goes to the credibility of the witness and her testimony, your honor,” said Rae innocently, tilting his head like a puppy as he looked up at the Judge. Petrovsky glared hard at Casey, who now had her head lightly resting in her hands, she could feel how hot and red her face was. Having her previous relationship and her sexuality aired in court like this was one of the more humiliating moments of her career and yet she was determined not to give Rae the perverse enjoyment of seeing her cry, no matter how scratchy her eyes felt.

“I’ll allow it,” said Petrovsky sharply, fixing Alex with a pointed stare until she sat back down, even if she was clenching her jaw so tightly Casey could practically hear her teeth grinding. The judge adjusted her glasses on her nose so she could peer over the top of them,

“Are you quite alright Miss Novak? Do you need a glass of water or something?” Casey slowly raised her head. She summoned some of her usual spunky bravery and straightened up as she held Petrovsky’s gaze,

“No thank you your honor, I’ll be fine,” she answered neutrally. Petrovsky looked both irritated and sceptical as she turned to address Dani,

“Answer the question Miss Beck. I should also remind you, you are under oath.”

“Yes,” Dani replied shortly.

“And what was the nature of your relationship after you left the unit?”

“We went out on a couple of dates,” said Dani, her voice cracking she was looking resolutely at the floor by Rae’s feet,

“Thank you for being honest Miss Beck, I want you to understand that neither I nor anyone else in this courtroom is judging you for your sexual orientation…” Alex gave a very obvious roll of her eyes and Casey turned to scowl at Rae, trying to tell him with her eyes that she thought he was a condescending, patronising asshole.

“Was your relationship with Miss Novak a serious one?” Rae was trying to sound empathetic but he just came off as slimy,

“I…” Dani faltered her eyes flicking to Casey and then to Alex before coming to rest on her own hands that were clenched tightly in her lap, “I wouldn’t say so,” Rae feigned surprise,

“Really? You seem pretty emotional that it’s been brought up?”

“Maybe I just don’t like being outed to a room full of strangers,” Dani replied curtly glaring at the defence lawyer, a little of her fight coming back.

“I should rephrase…” muttered Rae, looking at the floor and pacing, “Would you have liked the relationship to be more serious?”

Dani looked helplessly at Casey, tears welling up in her eyes,

“Yes,” she murmured,

“So who ended it?”

“Casey did,” tears were rolling down Dani’s face now, Casey swallowed a lump in her throat. Alex unconsciously moved closer to her, suddenly protective.

“And do you still have feelings for her?”

“No…” Dani wiped her face with the back of her arm,

“You don’t seem sure?” Rae approached her and looked up into her face,

“I am sure,” she looked up and fixed Rae with a hard stare, “I still care for her deeply and I hate to see you questioning her integrity,” she paused to give Casey a watery smile, “But any romantic feelings I had are in the past.”

“But still, you care for her?” The defence lawyer was playing it up to the jury, his tone trying to mimic that of a concerned friend,

“Yes,”

Rae pivoted and took quick steps towards the witness box add extra drama to his next question, “So isn’t it possible that you stole the laptop out of revenge to get back at her for breaking your heart?” he leaned against the wood of the box and gave Dani an over exaggerated doleful look, “She did break your heart didn’t she Miss Beck?”

“Yes, she did. But no, this was never about her.” Dani remained calm and kept her focus on Rae’s eyes as she answered,

“Are you sure?” He grinned almost cheekily and raised his eyebrow incredulously “Sabotaging her first case after her return from suspension seems a pretty good way to get back at her to me…” he turned to wave towards Casey drawing the jury’s focus to the redhead,

“Objection!” Casey could hear the rage in Alex’s voice,

“Withdrawn,” said Rae, smiling smugly at the two ADAs, “Nothing further.” Alex sprang up again as soon as he had finished,

“Redirect your honor?” she asked breathlessly, Petrovsky nodded reluctantly.

“Dani, where were you on the 16th of March this year?” she asked, after a quick glance at her notes, Dani looked at her uncertainly,

“I was in the custody of Brooklyn SVU,” she said slowly, Alex nodded to allow the surprised murmurs around the court settle. She began her usual pacing trying to cover up that she really was coming up with questions as she went along now. Casey’s heart was beating abnormally quickly but she tried desperately hard to appear calm.

“Did anyone other than the police speak to you whilst you were there?” Alex asked earnestly,

“Yes,” Dani seemed confused not sure where Alex was going with this, “You did.”

“That’s right,” Alex gave her an encouraging smile, pausing to swallow and lick her lips nervously, unsure of whether she was about to say entirely the wrong thing, “And on that occasion, what did you say to me as I was leaving?” Dani looked at her in utter disbelief. Shifting in her seat she glanced at Casey, then her eyes travelled back to Alex. Surely she wouldn’t do this to Casey?

“I’m not sure I remember exactly,” she replied hoarsely, giving Alex an opportunity to backtrack,

“Think harder”, Alex pressed stepping forward and folding her arms low in front of her,

“Objection! Badgering the witness,” said Rae hurriedly, entirely unsure what was going on,

“She’s my witness!” Alex protested turning irately to admonish the defence team,

“Answer the question Miss Beck, once again I remind you that you’re under oath,” grumbled Petrovsky appearing unimpressed by the lawyers antics,

Dani paused for a moment more, before looking solely at Alex, trying to block out everyone else, “I said, ‘Casey deserves to be happy-’”

“Casey deserves to be happy?” Alex echoed, cutting Dani off before she could finish relaying what she had said. The words were still etched in Alex’s brain _‘if you think you can make her happy you should try. Just be careful with yourself’_.

“Yes,” Dani confirmed, trying to keep looking anywhere but at Casey who was now glaring at Alex like she might kill her,

“Does that sound to you like something you would say if you were hell bent on revenge to the point where you would risk your career, reputation and livelihood?” asked Alex pointedly,

“No, it doesn’t.”

Alex nodded staunchly and looked up at Petrovsky, “Nothing further.”


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> C/W homophobic language 
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me this far! Hope you all enjoy this one.

**28.**

Following the drama of Dani’s testimony, Petrovsky granted a short recess. Casey barrelled out of the court room as quickly as she could, avoiding eye contact with everyone, especially Alex. She knew that the blonde had done what she had to do to rescue the case but still, what the fuck had she been thinking talking to Dani about her? What had Dani said? Casey felt sick and hoped she wasn’t visibly shaking. She daren’t head to the bathroom in case she saw herself in the mirror – she must look at least three shades paler than usual. She headed for a side corridor she knew would be quiet, she needed to keep it together, Sergeant Anderson was on the stand next and she was supposed to be asking the questions. Right now though, she wasn’t sure she could be in the same room as Alex without yelling at the infuriating blonde. She’d trusted Alex implicitly, been there for her in her worst moments, and the whole time Alex had been talking behind her back – with Dani of all people – and god only knows who else.

If there was one person she was even angrier at it was Dani. She could well imagine what the ex-detective might have said about her – calling her damaged if she was feeling generous, and cold-hearted if she wasn’t. Either way she’d surely wrecked any outside chance Casey might have had with Alex.

Without warning, the image of Alex’s face moving closer to her own as Casey lay atop her on the bed began to surface and with it came tears. Casey blinked them back and swallowed hard, pressing the back of her head into the cool marble of the wall. Everything was such a fucking mess.

“You ok?” the soft familiar voice brought her back to reality and she felt her heart rate slow a little. She looked up and saw Alex frowning at her in concern, nervously gripping the handle of her attaché case as she looked at the evidently distraught redhead in front of her,

“Do I look ok?” Casey bit back as much bitterness as she could but it was clear she was angry,

“Casey I’m sorry, I had to…” Alex moved towards her as she spoke, but Casey jerked away from her.

“How long did you have that one planned?” she snapped, louder than she’d intended. Casey straightened herself from where she’d been leaning against the wall, attempting to draw less attention to them even though Alex was looking at her as if she’d been wounded,

“I didn’t…” Alex had to pause and glanced at her feet before finding Casey’s eyes once more, “I was so blinded by everything that I didn’t even consider they would go down the revenge angle.” She shook her head, frustrated at herself. Casey felt herself mellow a little, her ire and embarrassment starting to ease just slightly in the relief that Alex hadn’t planned to have Dani say that about her in open court.

“Why were you even talking about me?” she asked, trying to steady her voice, eyes boring into Alex’s,

“I…” Alex faltered once again, adjusting her feet as she considered how best to respond. “She brought it up and I thought it would be best to be prepared, know what we were dealing with,” she lied. Casey nodded slowly, it made sense and yet…

“What else did she say about me?” the redhead asked hoarsely, searching Alex’s face for answers.

“She said you broke her heart, that you acted like you felt something but claimed you didn’t. She said you don’t do relationships,” Alex’s voice was beginning to choke up now and she couldn’t hold Casey’s gaze for any longer than a second at a time, finding it easier to look at a point just over the tip of the redhead’s ear instead.

“But she still thinks I deserve to be happy?” Casey spat incredulously, remembering Dani’s testimony,

“Yes,” said Alex quietly, realising that they’d moved closer to each other during the conversation. Casey sighed loudly and shook her head,

“I’m a terrible person,” she finally said tiredly, her shoulders slumping defeatedly,

“No you’re not,” Alex’s rebuttal sounded hollow and Casey seemed to visibly flinch,

“I lied to her, to myself, I did have feelings and it _terrified_ me.” Alex gulped lightly at the admission and resignation so evident on Casey’s features, “I mean they weren’t even serious feelings, it wasn’t like things were going to ever going to last between us…” Casey continued to avoid Alex’s searching gaze, “But I broke her heart and I told myself I’d never do that again…”

“Casey…” Alex’s normally strong voice was barely more than a whisper. She could almost sense what Casey was close to saying, to admitting. She reached out to place a hand on her arm…

“Hey there you are!” Dani’s voice caused Alex to wrench her hand away as if she’d been burned,

“What do you want?” Casey snapped, it came our harsher than she’d intended but her earlier anger had not completely gone and the swirling emotions in her chest meant she didn’t control herself as well as she normally would.

Dani looked hurt as she hesitantly shuffled the last few steps towards them, “Sorry,” Casey mumbled with a sigh and roll of her shoulders, “Tough morning.”

“Casey, I needed to say I’m sorry,” Dani was looking at her earnestly, “I never meant to cause you so much trouble. I never meant for how I felt about you to be dragged out of me and put on the record…”

“That’s not even what I’m mad at you for, I’m mad because you sabotaged this case and I’m mad because you were talking about me behind my back to my…”she paused, looking for the right word to describe Alex, “…colleague and I’m mad that you were covering for your fucking boss who I now have to interrogate as a hostile witness. And who knows what he’s going to say about me since he’s probably the one who arranged to have our office bugged, and god only knows what details of my life and opinions about my character you’ve divulged to him since you were so forthcoming with Alex and you hardly know her…”

“Wait, your office was bugged?” Dani interrupted. Casey gave a huff and rolled her eyes, but she caught a glimpse of Alex looking concerned and took a deep calming breath,

“Well Alex’s office technically,” Casey responded curtly to the former detective.

“What kind of bug was it?” Dani asked, her entire demeanour had changed – the usual hunch of her shoulders and intense energy just below the surface of her skin becoming evident once again,

“Why the fuck does that matter?” Casey threw her arms up in exasperation,

“Casey,” Alex chided her quietly but firmly, “you need to calm down. You’re questioning a witness in two minutes.” Casey shot her a glare but soon relented,

“You’re right,” she said quietly, “time to get the game face on.” Alex rolled her eyes dramatically,

“You and your sports metaphors!” her admonition raised a slight smile on Casey’s lips. Alex let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding at the sight of Casey looking a little more relaxed.

“Come on,” said Casey, “we’d better get going before Petrovsky orders a search party.”

***

Sergeant George Anderson, who had somehow managed to hold on to his job thus far, looked decidedly hungover as he glowered at Casey from the witness box. Casey glared back at him, she was angry and exhausted and so much of it was _his_ fault. If it wasn’t for him Dani would never have been involved in all this and it wouldn’t be Casey’s personal life dragged out in front of everyone and put on trial. She risked a glance at Alex who was diligently looking over her notes, chewing lightly on her lower lip. Casey felt her heart skip a little, maybe if this case wasn’t such a mess things could have been different, maybe Alex would have seen her differently. Instead the entire court was now free to judge whether they thought she was an emotional mess who couldn’t handle her feelings, or simply a cold-hearted bitch who had none. Casey still wasn’t sure which one Alex thought she was.

“Miss Novak?” Petrovsky’s voice cut through her internal monologue “are you ready to proceed?”

“Yes your honor,” replied Casey, injecting some courtroom confidence into her voice and taking a few steps towards the witness box. At being given leave by the finicky judge to begin she finally addressed the sullen man in front of her “So, Sergeant Anderson, can you tell me how you came to be involved in this case?”

“Manhattan SVU dragged me in for interrogation on pretty spurious evidence,” Anderson leaned back in the chair, raking his hand through his already dishevelled hair trying to give the impression that these proceedings were beneath him.

“What was that evidence?” Casey tried to hide her disgust at the stale alcohol smell which came of him when he moved. Apparently he’d had a heavy night.

“That bitch said I blackmailed her,” he sniffed,

“Objection!” Alex’s voice rang clearly across the courtroom,

“Keep it respectful please Sergeant,” chided Petrovsky, a pinched look on her face. She was also apparently slightly perturbed at the witness’s lack of personal hygiene and general decorum.

“Detective Beck accused me of blackmailing her into tampering with evidence,” he sneered, leaning forward in his seat. Casey fought the urge to recoil and stepped closer to him.

“Are you saying you didn’t blackmail her?”

“Yes,” he said quietly, bloodshot eyes staring into Casey’s. She broke his gaze and took a couple of steps back to look over at the jury, then back at the sergeant,

“But you told detectives that you did blackmail her, that you yourself were being threatened, isn’t that correct?" she asked, heading back towards the table where Alex sat. As if reading her mind the blonde passed her the transcript of Anderson’s interrogation, their fingers brushed for a moment and Casey felt an electric thrill run through her as her eyes met Alex’s. She quickly lowered her eyes to scan the document in front of her, turning back to the witness box as she did so.

“I lied,” he said simply rolling his neck with a crick, “I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible so I could work out who was threatening one of my officers.”

“And you couldn’t let SVU do that for you?” Casey said, barely glancing up from the page but the scorn in her voice was enough to get a raise out of the Sergeant,

“The panty police?” he scoffed, “This is way out of their league.”

“How would you know that?” Casey asked quickly, placing the interview transcript back on the desk. Alex smiled to herself, apparently the redhead had caught the scent of something other than stale whiskey.

“Know what?” he asked, narrowing his eyes,

“That this is way out of their league?” Anderson glanced aside to look at Rae, then sniffed and coughed heavily, making several in the courtroom shift uncomfortably. He tried to stare down Casey once again before shrugging,

“Someone blackmailing a cop isn’t exactly their remit.”

“But it is yours?” Casey crossed her arms in front of her,

“She’s one of my officers,” He shifted defensively, leaning forward on the edge of the box, the sweat beading on his forehead was obvious to everyone,

“You just called her a bitch in open court, but you want me to believe you lied to the police in order to help her?” Alex could’ve grinned at how well Casey played the incredulously innocent act,

“I didn’t know then she was trying to destroy my career, I just thought she was scared to admit who was really threatened her.”

“Your statement about being threatened is quite elaborate,” stated Casey for the jury’s benefit. She picked up the transcript up again and began to read a particular passage aloud,

“‘They threatened my sister and my niece. They know where she goes to school, the message said if I didn’t get detective Beck to steal the laptop then I knew what would happen to her.’ Do you remember giving that statement?”

“Yes, but like I said, I was lying.” He ran his hands over the unshaved stubble on his face, Casey could tell he was getting close to losing his patience.

“How do I know you’re not lying now?”

“Objection!”

“Sustained,” Petrovsky glared at the redhead.

“So, if you were lying in your statement as you claim, how did you come up with the specifics of the threat?”

“Excuse me?” Anderson shot a look to Rae at the defence table as the lawyers were quickly muttering to each other. Casey stepped into his eye-line and kept up her questioning,

“When detective Benson asked you if you knew what the threat ‘you know what will happen to her’ meant, you responded that ‘it means they’ll rape her and cut her up and throw her in the Hudson’, that’s quite a specific image to fabricate is it not?”

“I suppose,” he replied through gritted teeth, his jaw clenched.

“Have you ever had such violent fantasies about your niece before?”

“Objection!” Rae practically screeched,

“Withdrawn,” said Casey quickly. Anderson was now seething, swaying with rage. Casey could sense she had him on the back foot.

“So why the laptop?” she asked, lightly furrowing her brow, her voice casual,

“I told you, it wasn’t my idea,”

“Whose idea was it?”

“I don’t know,” he replied throwing up his hands in exasperation,

“What’s your relationship to the defendant’s father?” Casey quickly changed tack, aiming to keep the sergeant off balance.

“Which one?” he asked,

“All of them,” replied Casey coolly matching his tone, “but especially to Inspector Dietrichson.” A murmur rippled through the courtroom as Anderson’s head jerked to look over at the defendants.

“Objection!” called Rae hurriedly, “Relevance?”

“Goes to the witness’s credibility your honor,” Casey replied turning to Petrovsky with an innocent look,

“I’ve got a damn sight more credibility than a dyke like you!” Anderson roared, his knuckles were white as he gripped the edge of the box, almost as if he wanted to launch himself out of it. Casey blanched at the insult, she started shaking involuntarily. Sure, it wasn’t the first time someone had yelled something homophobic at her, but it still felt like a punch to the gut, particularly with it happening in court after the morning’s debacle.

“Objection!” Alex had shot out of her chair so vehemently it collapsed behind her adding to the general uproar that enveloped the court.

“Mr Anderson!” shouted Petrovsky banging her gavel for order, “I will not tolerate such language in my courtroom, one more outburst like that and I will hold you in contempt. Is that clear?”

“Yes, your honor,” he sneered, sinking lower in the chair and glaring again at Casey,

“Are you alright to continue Miss Novak?” Even Alex noted that the usually severe judge had some evident sympathy for the redhead. The judge then turned her gaze on Alex who realised she was still standing with her arms braced against the table. She turned and picked her chair up only slightly sheepishly,

“Yes your honor,” Casey was proud she was able to keep her voice steady. She quickly turned and took a sip of water from the waiting glasses at the prosecution table, studiously avoiding Alex’s searching eyes. Casey squared her shoulders and addressed the judge once again, “Could you please direct the witness to answer my question?” she tried to stop her hands shaking by clasping them in front of her. Petrovsky nodded,

“Answer the question Mr Anderson.”

“We went to school together,” he said shortly,

“That school, it’s the same one that the defendants attended? The one which is involved in the volunteer program where they met Amelia Santos?”

“Yes,”

“So, you would have a motive to protect the defendants, because of your friendship with their fathers?”

“Objection!”

“Overruled,” said Petrovsky, turning her glare onto Rae this time,

“I’m not protecting anyone.” Anderson’s eyes were bouncing from Casey to Rae, to the jury, to some of the individuals in the public gallery and back, looking increasingly anxious.

“But if the blackmail came from, say for instance, a superior officer whom you already had a connection with like Inspector Dietrichson…”

“Objection!”

“Overruled, but be careful Miss Novak.” Casey nodded at the judge, clearly Anderson’s outburst had given her a little leeway but Petrovsky’s good will would only extend so far.

“There was no blackmail, clearly Beck just wanted revenge on you,” Anderson spat in reply, the greasy sweat he was pouring had started to stain the collar of his dress shirt. Casey could only just hold back a grimace of revulsion,

“What makes you so sure she’s lying about it?”

“Think about it, you already had what you needed from the laptop so stealing it wouldn’t do anything to protect the defendants. Why would there be some huge conspiracy to steal a useless piece of evidence? Beck has been playing you since the start. Which I guess you deserved.”

“Objection!”

“Mr Anderson!”

“It’s _Sergeant_ Anderson!” he yelled back at Petrovsky, standing up in the witness box, his face red and his temple pulsing with anger. Petrovsky had obviously had enough,

“That is enough! You will not disrespect me or the counsellors in this courtroom. I’m holding you in contempt,” she nodded towards a court officer, “Please take the witness into custody. We’re adjourned for the day, I’ll see you all back here at 10am tomorrow.”


	29. Chapter 29

**29.**

“Well that couldn’t have gone worse,” said Casey finally, she was stretched out on the couch in Alex’s office again, her arm flung over her eyes as if she could try hide from the disaster of the day that way. A team had been in and swept the office for bugs earlier since the Moran trial was getting underway the next day and Casey would be between courtrooms. She thought about everything that had happened since she was last stretched out on the couch and groaned.

“You did a good job.” Alex put down her pen and looked over towards the redhead, they’d both been sat in the office for hours but had yet to talk about the trial’s development from earlier in the day. Alex hadn’t wanted to leave Casey alone after what had happened in court but she hadn’t wanted to push her either so had settled for getting some paperwork in order as the redhead decompressed. Things were still a little awkward between them and the last thing she wanted to do was send Casey over the edge with a conversation she wasn’t ready for, so she hadn’t mentioned what Anderson had said, or what she thought Casey had almost said in the courthouse corridor. Instead she’d called in Casey’s usual pizza order and asked her how she felt about the Moran case starting before they’d both buried themselves in their notes.

“His version of events was entirely plausible,” Casey shifted on the couch to look at Alex, the movement was familiar and oddly reassuring.

“But you don’t believe him?” Alex raised an eyebrow and spun the desk chair slightly so she was facing Casey. She rested her chin on her arm as she leaned forward waiting to hear what Casey thought,

“Of course I don’t, but it doesn’t matter what I think, it’s what the jury will believe,” huffed the redhead tiredly.

“I don’t think he did himself any favours by calling you what he did and getting arrested for contempt,” said Alex gently trying to reassure her,

“But he did make himself look like a rogue bigot rather than part of the larger conspiracy we know he’s involved with. I’m worried if people don’t see the cover-up going on here then these bastards are going to walk.” 

“The forensic evidence is pretty solid,” mused Alex sitting back in her chair and arching her fingers together in front of her,

“You know that’s not really true,” sighed Casey. She sat up and started picking at the arm of the couch where there was a slight tear in the cover, “That little girl was mutilated and we only have one of the weapons, it’s not even conclusive that it is the knife used…”

“It matched the wounds,”

“It’s a common knife!” Casey threw her hands up, “these bastards are going to walk, and everyone thinks I’m either some hysterical lesbian or an unfeeling bitch thanks to what Dani said on the stand. The only reason I was able to get through the examination is because Petrovsky felt sorry for me. She felt _sorry_ for me Alex, that’s even more disgraceful than being suspended…” Casey was up on her feet now, pacing faster and faster.

“Casey it’s not as bad as you think, people don’t think you’re hysterical or unfeeling or…”

“Don’t they?” Casey strangled back her yell, rounding on Alex with tears in her eyes, “isn’t that what you’ve thought of me ever since you found out about me and Dani? Ever since you talked to her in Brooklyn?” Alex felt her chest clench as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. How could Casey really believe that? How could she think Alex felt anything less than total adoration for her? How could she not know when Alex had tried to _kiss_ her?

“Casey I don’t think…”

“Don’t lie to me Alex, I really don’t want any more pity.”

“No you’re doing a pretty good job of throwing your own pity party,” said Alex bitterly, she was confused and tired and Casey was just being so difficult.

“Fuck this,” said the redhead angrily, gesturing almost frantically to everything surrounding her, “Fuck all of this.” she shook her head, not bothering to expand on what she meant.

She stormed to the back of the room and grabbed her gym bag from where it now lived in Alex’s office. “I’m going on a run, need to clear my head.”

“Casey, you can’t just go running off! It’s late and there’s only one protective detail!” Alex was distraught, the conversation had gotten away from her so quickly and she was emotional but still more than concerned at Casey’s apparent cavalier attitude,

“They can stay here with you,” said Casey bluntly, digging through her bag for the things she needed and heading towards her own, disused, office.

“Casey it’s dangerous,” Alex protested, following her, “I can’t just let you go running off...”

“Look Alex, I’m a big girl and I don’t need your permission to do anything!” Casey rounded on the blonde as they reached her office door. Alex was lost for words, she just stood there, looking at Casey, her head having to jerk back slightly at finding her suddenly so close. She tried desperately to communicate everything she should be able to say but wasn’t yet able to with her eyes, but was simply met with frustration in Casey’s. “Can you go so I can get changed now?” Casey asked pointedly, practically stamping her foot,

“Sure,” said Alex hoarsely, turning away from her sharply, “you might want to take a jacket, I heard it’s supposed to rain.”

***

“I’ve got it!” Casey threw open Alex’s office door and then stood there; her chest heaving, eyes sparkling with excitement as the startled blonde looked up. It had indeed rained and her t-shirt and shorts clung tightly to her body as she stood dripping in the doorway. The only light in the room came from the lamp on Alex’s desk and it’s golden glow reflected off of Casey’s soaked frame, highlighting how toned she was under her sodden running gear.

Alex was entranced. She knew Casey was beautiful, but seeing her like this all breathless and toned and utterly delighted with herself, well, she looked simply stunning. Alex silently stood up from behind her desk, she dropped her glasses on to it and let her eyes run slowly and deliberately up and down Casey’s body. She could’ve sworn she heard the redhead gulp as their eyes met.

“Thank god you’re ok,” was all Alex could say at first, the words came out as a murmur. As if something else was in control of her body she found herself moving across the room, taking slow deliberate steps towards Casey. The redhead almost mirrored her motion, closing the door and coming to meet her in the middle of the room, a growing puddle trailing behind her.

Alex raised a hand and gently trailed her long fingers down Casey’s cheek, brushing away the drops of rain she found there. “I was worried about you,” she whispered.

She was so close Casey could feel her warm breath on her rain-cooled lips, the heat of her fingertips burned as they tracked across her skin before falling away. Her breath hitched once again as Alex’s other hand came to rest on her hip.

“Alex,” she breathed gently, “I have to tell you…” she stopped mid-sentence, lost in the deep blue of Alex’s eyes which were fixed so attentively on hers. Casey slowly moved her hand to cover Alex’s, pressing it into her own hip as if making sure it was really there. She was light-headed, surely this was another dream?

“What is it?” Alex asked, eyes searching Casey’s with a mixture of concern and hope, she shifted in order to press their bodies fractionally closer together and lifted her hand from Casey’s face to brush a strand of sodden hair out of her face. Casey could feel the warmth of Alex’s body seeping into her, could feel the rise and fall of Alex’s chest as her breathing sped up,

“I think I’ve cracked how we’re going to win this case,” Casey breathed, her eyes rolling shut at their proximity, the magnetic pull she felt towards Alex getting stronger the longer they embraced. Alex felt the words tickle her own lips, her own light panting made Casey’s eyes slowly open and a crackle of electricity shot straight through Alex as she gazed into the green sparkling eyes.

“So that’s what you’re so delighted about?” Alex smiled softly, there was something about Casey like this, so elated and triumphant. She wished she could do something to capture the moment and keep it forever. Casey gave a slow nod, her lips millimetres away from brushing against Alex’s as she slowly but purposefully wrapped her arms around the blonde’s waist, holding her close. That was too much for the blonde, she’d found her breaking point. None of this was how she’d planned to tell Casey, she’d spent the whole evening thinking about how she would. What Casey had said earlier, about what Alex must think of her, suddenly it seemed to make sense. Maybe Casey hadn’t been pulling away because she didn’t like Alex, she thought Alex couldn’t like her. Honestly, she hadn’t planned to test her theory this way but Casey was so close, so enchanting… Alex leaned in and closed the remaining gap between them. This time Casey didn’t pull away.

The kiss was chaste at first. Alex’s soft lips pressed against Casey’s, savouring the feeling she’d thought she might never get. She stroked one hand down Casey’s cheek then caught her chin, gently cupping it to guide Casey’s face even closer to hers. She was surprised when she felt Casey’s lips part, felt the other woman kissing her back, gently running her tongue over Alex’s lower lip. The blonde shivered at the sensation, lifting her hand to tangle in Casey’s hair and gratefully accepting the opportunity to slip her own tongue into Casey’s mouth. The redhead moaned into Alex’s mouth and she felt her hips pressing harder into Casey’s in response, eliciting another delicious groan from the other woman. Alex lost herself in the feeling and when Casey’s tongue ran purposefully against her own she made a sound she hoped didn’t sound too much like a whimper.

Casey pulled her as close as she could, knowing that it would never be close enough. Alex sped the kiss up, getting a little rougher and more insistent, her tongue desperately exploring Casey’s mouth, her hand wandering from Casey’s hip to run up and down her side, pushing up the hem of her soaked t-shirt. Casey shivered as Alex’s hand ghosted up the side of her abs, then pulled away with a sharp giggle as Alex hit her ticklish spot.

“Sorry,” breathed the blonde, her pupils blown, looking at Casey like she hung the moon,

“Don’t be, even though I know you knew that ticklish spot was there,” she wrapped her arms back around Alex’s waist and pressed their foreheads together. A drop of water ran off her dripping hair and splashed onto Alex’s nose, “Oops,” she sniggered lightly at the affront look Alex gave her.

“You’re soaking,” mumbled the blonde, suddenly concerned that Casey must be freezing,

“Uh-huh,” Casey nodded, her voice thick at the implication of Alex’s statement,

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Alex chuckled almost scandalised, but she could feel her own answering blush was strong. She turned to look away to hide her burning cheeks but Casey lifted a hand to catch her chin and gently turn Alex’s face back towards her,

“Well you were right on both counts,” she said, placing another kiss on the blonde’s lips. Alex melted into her touch. Casey didn’t know if this could last, but the line had already, finally, gloriously, been crossed and right now she’d be a fool to waste a single second of having Alex Cabot in her arms. This time the kiss stayed chaste and Alex pulled back slowly, gazing into Casey’s eyes for a few moments as she did so.

“You must be getting cold,” despite the gentleness of the kiss Alex sounded breathless,

“Actually, I’m a bit hot and bothered for some reason,” Casey smirked, still gazing at Alex in a mixture of delight, disbelief and arousal.

“Casey,” Alex took a deep breath, she needed to say this right now, needed to know they were on the same page. “Casey,” she repeated, struggling to formulate words as she felt the redhead’s hands kept grasping at her shirt. She placed her own hands on top of them so they would be still and to draw Casey’s attention to what she was saying.

“Before, you said that I must think you’re unfeeling or hysterical. I don’t think either. I’ve never thought those things about you… Casey, I’ve been an idiot. I don’t know how to say this,” she gave a small frustrated sigh, “These past few months, working with you, basically living with you, I…” the words caught in her throat, Casey was watching her mouth as she spoke, hanging on every word, “I’ve been falling for you, and I never believed you felt the same...” she trailed off feeling suddenly vulnerable after finally admitting her feelings to the redhead. She brought her hands up to cover her face but Casey lifted her own hands and gently pulled Alex’s away so she could look at her,

“Alex, I…” she didn’t get to finish what she was going to say, because right at that moment the door to Alex’s office flew open once again.

“I’ve got that deep background on the TTF financials you wanted… Oh shit.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's been a long time getting here! But as you can probably tell, this story is far from over yet... let me know what you think :)


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone enjoyed last week's chapter! Ready to find out who interrupted them? Here you go, happy fic Friday!

**30.**

“Who the fuck are you?” Alex glared hard at the intruder, gently moving Casey aside she took two steps towards the door and the mortified young woman who had opened it.

“I’m one of the investigators’ interns”, she stammered, “I’ve been here a few months, I’ve dropped reports off to you before…” Alex’s eyes narrowed as she struggled to recognise the intern through her haze of rage and thwarted lust,

“You do look familiar…”

“My name is Hannah,” she offered helpfully. Alex nodded curtly and held out her hand for the report. Hannah handed it over and Alex noticed she was shaking slightly. The blonde ADA stalked to her desk to retrieve her glasses, as she put on the frames she looked over towards Casey who had turned bright red and was still dripping rainwater all over the office floor,

“Your gym bag’s where you left it, you should dry off before you catch a chill,” she said gently. Casey nodded gratefully and scurried to the back of the office, pleased to have an excuse to escape the awkwardness.

“What are you doing here so late?” asked Alex, her voice not nearly so gentle as she scanned the report in front of her. Hannah rocked back and forth on her heels, hands clasped behind her back,

“Um… working late seems to be the done thing around here if you want to get on. I’ve seen you stay in the office all night before. But I guess maybe you weren’t working…” her eyes wandered over to Casey who was trying to dry her hair with a towel. Alex looked up suddenly, fixing Hannah with an icy stare that drew her eyes away from Casey and sent a chill right through her, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud,” the mortified intern spluttered.

“Hmm,” replied Alex, her eyes returning to the report as she read through the summary, “I need to go fax this summary over to my detectives. “You – ”she pinned the shifting younger woman with a patented Cabot glare, – “stay here, since you’re so keen on working late I’ll need you to answer some further questions about the report.” Hannah gulped and nodded as Alex stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

The room was quiet for a moment except for the sound of Casey drying her hair and throwing a hoodie on over her wet running things.

“Should I leave so you can change?” asked Hannah nervously. Casey chuckled,

“You really want to disobey Alex with the mood she’s in right now?”

“No,” said the intern thoughtfully as her eyes roamed over the office to avoid Casey’s curious stare, “Is she always like that?”

“She softens up once you get to know her,” Casey replied, trying to keep a stupid grin off her face. Alex had kissed her. Alex was falling for her…

“I’m really sorry, I didn’t realise you two were…” Hannah trailed off, not sure how to finish. Casey laughed and crossed the room towards her,

“We’re not, not really, it’s complicated,” she shrugged. “So, where are you studying?”

“I’m not at the moment, I know most interns are in law school or whatever but I’m just saving up to go do my PhD.”

“PhD huh? You must be pretty smart, where are you wanting to study?”

“MIT,” said Hannah quietly, Casey gave a low whistle.

“Pretty impressive, what’s your subject?” the intern paused for a moment before muttering her reply,

“Micro-engineering.”

“You can sit down by the way,” said Casey, waving at the couch, “This isn’t the principal’s office, even if Alex did give you a bit of a telling off.” Hannah forced a smile and perched awkwardly on the couch, Casey leaned against the desk. “So what’re you doing interning in a prosecutors’ office if you want to study micro-engineering?” Casey’s curiosity was genuine, but the intern seemed to shift nervously in response,

“My uncle got me the job, it pays well and I guess it’s more interesting than flipping burgers,” she said, avoiding looking Casey in the eye.

“Your uncle huh? Anyone I might know?”

“Probably not,” she answered hurriedly,

“You know,” said Casey, pushing off the desk and taking a step towards the couch, “You’re working pretty hard at this to say it’s only temporary for you.”

“I like to be thorough…” she glanced aside. She was saved from further interrogation as Casey’s phone buzzed in her hoodie pocket. She pulled it out and read the message,

 **Dani** : _Case, I need to talk to you._

 **Casey** : _There’s nothing to say._

She tapped out the reply quickly and put the phone back in her pocket, she was trying to think of something else to say to Hannah when it buzzed again,

“Sorry,” she muttered, pulling it out again to read the message.

“It’s ok, is it someone important? I can leave if you need to make a call…”

 **Dani** : _It’s about your case, I have a theory about who bugged your office._

 **Casey** : _Then stop being coy about it and tell me. Info better be decent and not just an attempt to get in my good books._

“No it’s just a friend seeing how I’m doing after court today,” Casey lied as she typed, “You might have heard there was some drama.”

“I heard a witness was arrested for contempt,”

“That’s the one,” said Casey distractedly, still staring at the three dots on her phone screen that said Dani was typing. The phone buzzed again,

 **Dani** : _Anderson must be involved if it was high-tech. He’s always going on about his niece, it was her masters project at college._

Casey’s brow furrowed, surely it was too much of a coincidence.

 **Casey** : _Which college?_

 **Dani** : _MIT?_

Casey tried to conceal her surprise, surely it couldn’t be. She thought back to the list of names they’d given Liv, had Hannah been on it? Suddenly, she didn’t quite feel as safe and wished the protective detail was outside the door rather than outside the building. She typed out a quick message to Alex,

 **Casey** : _Hannah bugged the office, I think she’s Anderson’s niece._

“Have you been following the case?” the ADA tried to keep her voice steady and her questions seeming like small talk,

“Of course, it’s all anyone is talking about in the office,”

“You should come to court one day, maybe you’ll change your mind about microbiology,” she smiled, trying to make it seem as if she hadn’t realised the significance of Hannah’s earlier admissions. Her phone buzzed again,

 **Alex** : _Step-niece, that’s why it didn’t show up in background. Liv is on the way. Sit tight._

Huh, that was easy for Alex to say, she wasn’t the one trapped in a room with a suspect. Casey was grateful that the blonde had apparently been doing some detective work instead of battling the faulty fax machine.

“Alex is taking a while at the copier, maybe I should just go and come back tomorrow, it’s late…” suggested Hannah,

“Sometimes the fax machine plays up, it’s ancient technology now you know,” Casey gave a nonchalant smile as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She wished Alex would hurry up. Despite her spiking adrenaline she was starting to feel the cold, “I’m sure she’ll be back soon.” Casey’s tone of voice made it clear that Hannah should stay and the intern shifted uncomfortably on the couch, looking restlessly around the room. Casey wracked her brains for a safe topic of conversation.

“Why didn’t you knock?” she blurted out. It was not a safe topic of conversation but at least it might keep Hannah distracted.

“Oh I, well I thought Alex was alone and I’m tired so I just sort of forgot… I wish I’d just waited until the morning to drop that report off,” she smiled awkwardly.

“You had the right idea, it’s a really important report for our case,” Casey reassured her.

“Why? I’ve been following the trial but I’m still not sure what the TTF has to do with things,” Hannah admitted. Casey glanced away,

“Oh they don’t, it’s just complicated legal stuff…” Casey waved her hand unconvincingly.

“Are you sure you’re okay waiting here with me? I really should be getting going, I’ll have an early start…” her excuses were thankfully cut off by the sound of the door opening to reveal Liv and Alex standing there. Casey practically leapt up from the desk.

“Liv, what are you doing here?” she feigned surprise, not sure how they had planned to approach the situation.

“We found out who bugged your office,” replied the detective confidently as she strode into the room, appraising the situation at hand,

“It’s still _my_ office,” Alex interjected snarkily. Liv smirked but otherwise ignored the comment. Casey’s eyes met Alex’s and she felt the air leaving her lungs at how brightly the blonde’s blue eyes were shining.

“Miss McNeil, would you care to accompany these officers to the station for questioning?” the detective asked Hannah, gesturing to two uniforms who had just appeared in the doorway,

“How many people are hiding out there?” asked Casey, Liv glared at her,

“Am I under arrest?” asked Hannah indignantly, sitting up straight on the couch as she vainly tried to keep up with the turn of events,

“You can be,” Liv replied. The intern sighed then, knowing she was caught and nodded slowly.

“I’ll come voluntarily,” she muttered, standing up and walking over to the officers who escorted her from the building.

“How did you know?” Casey asked, keeping her eyes steadily fixed on Liv as Alex moved to perch on the arm rest of her couch.

“I got suspicious when Anderson mentioned his niece in court, there wasn’t any mention of one in his background check,” said the detective. “It didn’t stand out in his original statement when we thought he was a small fry,” she added. Casey nodded, it made sense now, her interrogation of Anderson had clearly been more successful than first thought…

“Oh!” said Casey suddenly, drawing the attention of the two women to her, “I almost forgot, before we were um, interrupted…” she glanced nervously at Alex and licked her lips, “I realised something on my run.”

“You went on a run?” Olivia spun on her heel to look incredulously at Alex,

“No,” Alex scoffed, and waved her hand to indicate the difference in outfits between the two lawyers, so much for the observant detective she thought, “Casey decided to go running off on her own.”

“Without your protective detail?” Liv scolded the redhead,

“Well it turns out the threat was inside the building!” Casey retorted, gesturing towards the door where Hannah had left, “ _Anyway_ ,” she continued, “Anderson asked why anyone would get Dani to steal evidence that had already been cleared.”

“We knew there was no evidence of a hack, which is what we needed it for,” Liv nodded,

“Yes, but what if there’s something _else_ on the laptop, that we weren’t looking for,” Casey replied breathlessly, her eyes sparkling. She could feel Alex watching her, captivated by her excitement.

“Like what?” asked Alex, her tone almost matching Casey’s.

“Like… well I don’t know, insurance or something that would incriminate all of them?” Casey shrugged, “Because for all he was a bad cop and awful human, Anderson was right. It doesn’t make sense to risk so much to steal a useless piece of evidence – but we know Dani was asked to steal it, so it can’t be as useless as we thought.”

“I could get the techs to check it again,” said Liv slowly. The two women turned to look at the blonde for her approval. Alex sighed and shook her head lightly,

“You’re probably right Case,”

“But?” Casey knew Alex’s reserved tone, she knew there was a counterpoint coming,

“But we can’t use anything we find on the laptop, or anything it leads us to, it’s fruit of the poisoned tree.” Casey’s face fell and Alex’s heart went with it. Liv looked at one from the other, knowing they were right.

“It’s still worth checking out though,” said Liv quickly, “If we find something we might find a way to use it, even if not in the courtroom.”

“It’s a dangerous game,” warned Alex. She’d removed her glasses to rub her tired eyes, falling into the habit of tapping the folded frames against her lips as she thought through the possible repercussions,

“What have we got to lose, Al?” Casey asked stepping closer to the blonde woman. She was confused and frustrated and honestly felt like a bit of an idiot for overlooking the obvious legal problem. Clearly, she’d been too distracted lately. Alex sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose before walking purposefully over the desk putting her glasses back in place as she looked over the files that were spread out before her.

“I should get back to the precinct with Liv and oversee Hannah’s interrogation,” she sighed tiredly and looked up to catch Casey’s eye before turning to the waiting detective, “I guess we don’t need a protective detail since we’ve caught the bugging culprit?”

“You should be okay,” Liv agreed with a nod, “but the interrogation can wait until morning.”

“I don’t want to give her time to fabricate a story,” insisted Alex. She looked over at Casey, who had begun to shiver and looked even more exhausted than she did. “Case, you should go home and get some dry clothes and sleep, you’ve had a hell of a day.”

Casey wanted to tell her that after a day like today she wanted nothing more than to be curled up with Alex. She wanted to tell her that there was no way she could sleep unless they finished their previous conversation. She wanted to tell her a lot of things, but she sensed that now was not the time.

“Do you have a spare key?” she asked Alex eventually, “Most of my stuff is still at yours so I’ll need to pick up some essentials.”

“I don’t have a spare on me,” Alex bit her lip and looked away, “You can stay at mine again though? Don’t worry about waiting up, knowing Liv and Elliot’s interrogation style, I probably won’t be home until morning,” she smiled gently and despite the cold Casey felt a rush of heat course through her.

“Sure,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. She held Alex’s gaze for a moment too long and Liv had to interrupt them, trying very hard not to question what the hell she had just witnessed in that exchange.

“So are we headed back to the precinct then? I can drop you off on the way Novak.”

“Yeah, um let me get my stuff.” Alex and Casey both busied themselves sorting through the things they needed to take with them, as they were shuffling through papers on the desk Casey’s hand brushed against Alex’s. Casey felt the blonde’s fingers tighten around her own in a reassuring squeeze, although her eyes remained on the papers she was sorting. She felt her heart skip a beat and fought the urge to turn her head and kiss Alex. A rising panic in her stomach warned her it might be her last chance. She had an uneasy feeling that once they had some space and some sleep Alex would realise who exactly it was she had been kissing and run a mile. Casey sighed and pulled her hand away reluctantly as she picked up the last of her things from the desk.

“Ready to go?” she asked.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's been a rollercoaster week for me but I've been really looking forward to posting this chapter, let me know what you think :)

**31.**

Alex wrinkled her nose at the unfamiliar smell as she made her way over to the batting cages. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest, it seemed almost as loud as the steady thwacks coming from the cage where she knew Casey was. Everything had been a whirlwind since the night they’d kissed, the night Alex had confessed her feelings – only to be interrupted by that stupid intern. Alex was glad she wasn’t handling her prosecution because she’d have made sure to throw the book at her, and part of her knew she didn’t deserve that.

She breathed in slowly as Casey came into view, she looked much as she did the first time Alex had found her here: strong and athletic, wearing a tank and sweats, toned arms on full display. This time Alex couldn’t deny her attraction to Casey, her heart seemed to speed out of control at the sight of the redhead and her mouth ran dry. She wanted nothing more than to wrap Casey in her arms and kiss her until they were both breathless. She wanted to trail her fingers up and down the smooth skin of Casey’s toned arms, to whisper how much she needed her against the shell of her ear and feel the redhead shiver at her touch. She wanted Casey to melt into her, tell her she felt the same, that she’d been scared but she was ready now…

Alex knew that she wanted so much and she was terrified Casey wouldn’t be able to give it. But, even with her heart hammering in her chest and her stomach feeling as if it was in a vice grip, she knew she had to find out one way or another. So, summoning up her usual brash courage, she spoke,

“Is that my face?” she asked, wincing gingerly as Casey struck a ball perfectly, the loud ‘pop’ making her ears ring slightly. The pitching machine came to a standstill and Alex was relieved to hear Casey give a loud, clear laugh as she took of her helmet and shook out her red tresses,

“No, it’s your balls,” the redhead gave her a wicked grin as she referenced back to the joke she’d made about grease weasel Garrett all those months ago. She stepped back and took a gulp of her water, using the back of her arm to wipe away where it had dribbled onto her chin, “Actually, it’s Garrett’s face,” she huffed, her tone serious. Alex quirked an eyebrow,

“Moran trial going badly?” she asked sympathetically almost relieved to be talking about familiar things,

“Garrett is just so greasy and my witnesses are either kids or angry fathers, he keeps destroying them with his cross-examinations,” she sighed in frustration. Alex nodded, tucking her hands into her coat pocket and trying to seem calmer than she felt,

“I figured it wasn’t going great, I knew there must be a reason I hadn’t seen you in a couple of days,” she wasn’t lying. Rationally she knew Casey was busy in court, but her anxiety had run away with her and she had to find out if Casey was deliberately avoiding her.

“It is harder to stay in touch now we’re not living together,” it was supposed to be a joke but Casey’s voice cracked a little as she spoke, she glanced away and bit her lip.

“Casey”, Alex’s voice drew the redhead’s green eyes back to her, “can we talk? About the other night…” Casey nodded, not trusting herself to speak yet. Alex was looking at her earnestly, as if she might vanish at any moment,

“I…” they began at the same time, both letting out a slight chuckle at the mishap, Alex couldn’t stop looking at the cute little smile on Casey’s lips,

“You go first,” insisted the blonde, “I think you know how I feel…” she couldn’t help but take in a steadying breath when she finished, making herself vulnerable still didn’t come easily. Casey nodded and looked down at her feet as they scuffed up the well-worn floor whilst she worked out what she wanted to say. She took a deep breath of her own, her lower lip still caught between her teeth as she glanced at the blonde who was looking so hopefully at her before returning to look at her feet,

“I won’t lie to you Alex, I think I’ve been falling for you too,” Alex felt her heart soar, she reached out and caught Casey’s hand lightly in her own, needing something to ground her. A slight unease began to rise within her as she sensed Casey wasn’t finished speaking, the redhead was barely able to whisper, “but I don’t know if I can do this.”

Alex felt like she’d been punched in the gut and she must’ve looked like it too, her crystal blue eyes welling with tears.

“Why?” she asked hoarsely, her voice barely a whisper.

“I don’t… I can’t…” Casey was faltering now, pulling her hand away from Alex and wafting it ineffectually as she struggled to articulate the tumult of emotions swirling within her. Eventually she lightly shrugged her shoulders, almost in defeat, “I’m scared,” she admitted quietly not able to meet Alex’s eye,

“Of me?” Alex furrowed her brow, “I won’t hurt you Casey,” she reached out for the redhead once again, and Casey took her hand back in spite of herself, instinctively entangling the blonde’s long fingers with her own.

“You don’t know that for sure Alex,” Casey was struggling to keep her voice steady as she allowed herself to look into the other woman’s eyes, “you could get shot again, you could _die_ this time. Or you could get sick like Charlie…” she choked.

“So what, you’re just going to spend your whole life afraid to let anyone in?” said Alex bluntly, feeling her walls coming back up,

“I think… I think it’s a little late for that,” Casey croaked, attempting to raise a smile. She lifted their joined hands a little and turned Alex’s hand over in her own, simply looking over how they came together as she tried to push onwards with her confessions, “I’m already at the point where losing you would break my heart,” she locked her eyes onto Alex’s bright blue ones, choking up in the emotion swirling there, “I’ve been so damn scared of losing you…”

“Then why are you pushing me away now?” the blonde stepped in closer, “I want you Casey, I want to be with you,” tears ran down Alex’s face, the redhead having effortlessly destroyed her walls in a matter of seconds.

“I’m not scared you’ll hurt me, I’m scared I’ll hurt you. I said I wouldn’t do relationships again, I always screw them up. I care about you too much to risk breaking your heart.” Casey voice was thick, her face and chest flushing pink as her tumultuous feelings threatened to overwhelm her.

“Don’t you get that’s what you’re doing right now?” Alex yelled, pulling her hand from Casey’s so she could use both of her own hands up to wipe the tears from her face. Casey looked stunned, as if what Alex just said was only now occurring to her,

“I didn’t…” she stammered feeling lost as her mind tried to catch up,

“You are a lot of things Casey Novak, but I never thought you were a coward,” Alex’s tone was flat again, she was shaking her head, refusing to take her eyes off the redhead. Casey was still staring back in astonishment. Alex was beginning to get worried she might have broken her,

“That’s really how you feel?” Casey whispered at last her green eyes imploringly searching across Alex’s face for confirmation, “you like me that much?”

“Casey I love you!” the words were out before Alex could stop them, they hung there for a moment and filled the air with possibility.

“Alex,” Casey breathed, as if it was the only word she knew, “Alex… are you sure?” she was surprised when the next thing she heard was Alex laughing, a small wet chuckle which grew and grew,

“Am I sure? Oh my god Casey, of _course_ I’m sure, do you think I’d be stood here in this stinking gym crying my eyes out if I wasn’t?” Alex shuffled on the spot and had to remind herself to breathe, feeling her ribcage expand as a sense of relief that she’d finally been able to say the words that had been bubbling in her subconscious for some time now.

“You really want to be with me? Even knowing all about what’s happened before, even knowing you might get hurt?” Casey was floundering, unable to fathom Alex’s reasoning,

“The thought of you never knowing hurt more,” Alex confessed gently, sensing Casey was still uncertain, perhaps not able to believe that this was actually happening.

“I love you too,” the redhead whispered eventually as she held Alex’s gaze. She reached out to pull Alex close to her, the blonde dazedly but happily allowing herself to be moved, “I _really_ do. I just never thought you could feel the same,” she gently reached a hand up and cradled Alex’s face, using her thumb to wipe away a stray tear from the blonde’s cheek. Alex melted against her.

“You didn’t take the hint when I kissed you and told you I was falling for you?” Alex teased, pressing her body closer to Casey, allowing herself to run her fingers through the ends of Casey’s hair, enjoying how the redhead’s breath hitched at her touch,

“Honestly, I thought I might have been dreaming, sometimes I have pretty vivid dreams…” she muttered, aware of her own cheeks pinking at the admission.

“Dreams about me?” Alex hummed able to read into the redhead’s blush, she reached further up to twirl Casey’s ponytail between her long fingers,

“Sometimes,” Casey smiled coyly, but allowed herself to lean in to Alex, guiding her face towards her with the hand that still cupped her cheek. They kissed softly for a moment, more tentative than the first time, savouring the electricity of the light contact.

“We shouldn’t do this now,” breathed the redhead, her eyes still closed as she reluctantly moved away,

“It’s still lunch recess,” Alex protested, moving in as if to kiss her again, Casey arched her face and hand away slightly, but kept her arm firmly around Alex to reassure her,

“I know that, but do you really think I’ll be able to focus this afternoon if I’ve spent my lunch break making out with you?” Alex took the opportunity to brazenly rake her eyes up and down Casey’s body, enjoying the shiver she elicited.

“Absolutely not,” she smiled, reaching to brush a strand of hair from Casey’s face that she had managed to dislodge from her ponytail. She just couldn’t help but keep touching her,

“You know, we both have to focus on our trials right now,” Casey said reluctantly, even as she tipped her head into Alex’s touch, placing a featherlight kiss to the inside of her wrist that made the blonde almost buckle at the intimacy of such an act. She wanted to keep kissing, keep touching, keep feeling Casey against her but the lawyer part of her brain was just about able to hear reason.

“You’re right,” Alex sighed. She let her forehead rest for a moment against Casey’s before straightening up with a wry smile, “I know I haven’t been able to focus on anything but you since we kissed.” Casey felt a blush rise up her cheeks at Alex’s bold admission.

“Maybe we should take things slow until after these trials are over,” Casey hated herself for suggesting it, even as she ran her hand across Alex’s shoulders and down her arm. She’d made Alex wait so long already, _she’d_ had to wait so long already,

“That would probably be best, but I’m really going to struggle keeping my hands off you in the meantime,” Alex replied, leaning more heavily against Casey as she gripped into her tank top, her voice low and sultry,

“The feeling’s mutual,” Casey smirked, shifting slightly so her hips pressed against Alex. She leant in for another kiss and Alex responded hungrily, catching Casey’s bottom lip between her teeth, drawing a filthy moan from the redhead. Alex tangled one of her hands in Casey’s hair unable to resist the feel of soft tresses. Deepening the kiss she pulled her impossibly close, feeling her stomach swoop with happiness and arousal. Casey whimpered against her mouth, hands roaming wildly over Alex’s body, unable to decide on a single location to settle. Eventually they pulled apart, both breathless.

“Can I keep kissing you?” Alex panted, nosing at the corner of Casey’s jaw breathing in Casey’s unique scent and only just stopping herself from licking along her rapidly beating pulse point.

“Right now?” Casey’s pupils were blown and she couldn’t quite catch her breath,

“Well yes, but I meant, if we’re taking it slow with dating… and presumably other things…” Alex pulled back to look at Casey feeling slightly embarrassed for once at her presumptuousness. Casey simply quirked an eyebrow,

“I’m not sure,” she teased trailing her fingers along one of Alex’s coat lapels before catching her eyes with a smirk, “you think you can kiss me without getting carried away?” In response Alex leaned in again and kissed her, much more chastely this time, but somehow no less passionate.

“Defence exhibit one,” she smiled as she pulled back. Casey was grinning again, fixing her with that same look Alex had given her following their first kiss – as though she hung the moon.

“Okay, kissing is allowed,” she conceded leaning into Alex’s hold on her waist, “but I think I’m best staying at my own apartment for now.”

“I think moving in before the first date might be a little unconventional,” Alex laughed,

“Nothing about us has been conventional,” Alex felt her heart flutter at Casey calling them “us”. That meant she thought there was an “us”.

“Speaking of my apartment I do need to shower before I head back to court,” the redhead sighed wrinkling her nose as she became aware of her cooling body after her work out.

“I could always join you?” a mischievous gleam danced across Alex’s eyes as she spoke, her pulse speeding up again at the thought. Casey gave her a seductive grin,

“Trust me Alex, I would like nothing better, but we can’t be breaking our own rules five minutes after making them.” She had to lick her lip to hold herself to the same standards though whilst her mind ran wild with images of Alex wet and naked in the shower with her. Shaking her head lightly to clear the tempting pictures, she continued slightly shakier than before, “Besides, I actually do need to shower and there is nowhere near enough time for what we’d be doing if you joined me.”

“That is such a shame,” Alex mused, tracing a finger along the line of Casey’s collarbone, watching as goose bumps appeared in its wake. Casey’s eyes fluttered closed,

“You are seriously weakening my resolve right now Cabot.” Alex hummed innocently before leaning in to press another chaste kiss to Casey’s lips. She stepped back from the redhead who whined slightly at the loss of contact,

“I can’t wait until I can be with you completely,” husked Casey, she stepped forward, following Alex’s retreat by quickly pressing forward to reach for her hips again, “I’m almost tempted to plead this bastard out so I can focus just on you.” Alex chuckled, placing her hands over Casey’s; whether to hold them tighter to her or to stop them from wandering she wasn’t able to say,

“I know what you mean,” her tone became serious, “but you were right before,” she ran her fingertip along one of Casey’s eyebrows before withdrawing her hand and releasing the other which still had been holding the redhead’s, “we’ve got a duty to see these guys put away for what they’ve done.”

Casey nodded in agreement, still holding Alex’s hip lightly as she grinned happily at the woman in front of her,

“I love your dedication,” she said simply, “it’s one of my favourite things about you.” Alex blushed but tried to cover it with bravado,

“Well, when this is all over I hope you’ll find some other parts of me to call your favourites, and I’ll show you just how dedicated I can be in other pursuits too.” With a mischievous wink she turned on her heel and took a couple of steps away, grinning widely to herself when she was able to just make our Casey’s quietly muttered ‘Jesus Alex’ as the redhead tried to collect herself.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Everyone! Thank you so much for your comments, I loved all of them and I will get round to replying I just have a lot on my plate right now. Thanks so much for sticking with the story.

**32.**

Casey couldn’t believe it was only lunch recess, it felt like court should already be over for the day. Needless to say, she hadn’t slept well the past couple of nights. Between grease weasel Garrett oozing smarm all over the courtroom as he presented his case in the Moran trial and thinking about Alex, it had been impossible to switch off and get some rest, her mind whirring and overly hot body tossing and turning all night. She was feeling it now, as she trudged towards the elevator, irritated that Liv had called her to the precinct on her lunch break without warning.

She pushed the call button and sighed as the dial on the wall slowly ticked off the floors. She risked a glance at her watch and couldn’t help as a second quiet sigh escaped her, given how the day was going there probably wouldn’t be time to grab anything to eat before she had to face Garrett again. Not that she had much of an appetite at the moment. If she was honest with herself she was only craving one thing, and that was Alex. She knew it had been the right call to take it slow until things were calmer at work but god did she _want_ her. The kisses they’d already shared, instead of easing her desire, had had the opposite effect and made her realise just how desperate she was to be with the blonde.

The elevator made a familiar sound as it arrived in front of her and the doors sild open, Casey inhaled deeply before she slipped inside, tapping her foot anxiously as she waited for the doors to close again.

“Hold the elevator please!” Alex’s voice brought Casey back to the present moment and she felt her stomach somersault, instinctively responding to knowing the gorgeous woman was close by. They’d barely seen each other since their ‘talk’ at the batting cages, save a few longing glances in the corridors of the court house. They’d texted of course, good morning and good night, occasionally calling to check in but both too swamped with work to hold much of a conversation. Casey quickly jammed her finger onto the hold button as Alex slid through the doors, brushing slightly too close to her as she entered the elevator. The blonde was breathless and the smell of the city still clung around her. She gave Casey a dazzling smile, blue eyes lighting up with warmth, and thrust a cardboard holder containing two coffee cups towards the redhead.

“That one’s for you, I figured you might need it, I heard the trial’s been pretty intense.” The elevator doors slid closed behind them and Casey gratefully took the cup, recognising the logo as Alex’s favourite coffee place.

“You had to go out of your way to get this,” Casey smiled, her voice husky and tired. She took a small sip of the warm liquid and slowly grinned up at her again, “and you got me extra foam.” Alex stepped closer to her, leaning over and pressing a small kiss to Casey’s cheek. A blush bloomed on Casey’s cheeks and she quickly turned her head to catch Alex’s lips with a chaste peck adoring how simply pressing their lips together instantly made her feel lighter, and content. Alex pulled away and beamed at her, the full smile and shining eyes making Casey’s heart stutter just as much as the kiss had,

“Well at least that takeaway cup means you won’t end up with a foam moustache,” the blonde teased. She could help but reach forward and untuck some of Casey’s hair where it had gotten caught under her blazer collar, the intimacy of such a move only occurring to them both after the fact.

“How very thoughtful of you,” Casey replied deciding to not let the moment linger for them to overthink. She looked back down at her coffee and rolled her eyes a little, unable to stop the smile that spread across her face, “bringing me this in the squad room wouldn’t have been very subtle though.”

“Who said I was going for subtle?” Alex flashed her a lascivious grin, shuffling her body forwards to close the remaining space between them. Awkwardly balancing her own coffee which was still in the holder, she pressed her lips to Casey’s more firmly this time, letting out an almost inaudible but intensely suggestive contented sigh.

Casey tasted like coffee and something Alex couldn’t place, something she hadn’t been able to place since their first kiss, something she just understood to be, well, Casey. The redhead’s free hand instinctively shot to Alex’s waist, wanting to pull the blonde closer. The elevator juddered slightly and shook them apart as they both tried to stabilise their coffees, grinning sheepishly at each other as it pinged softly when they finally reached their floor,

“Good thing this elevator doesn’t run smoother or we’d probably have been caught kissing by one of the detectives,” Casey said, quirking an eyebrow.

“That certainly wouldn’t have been subtle,” husked Alex, holding Casey’s gaze, unable to tear away just yet. She sighed as the doors slid open, “guess we should see what Liv deemed so important we had to miss lunch for it.”

***

A few moments later the two ADAs were walking into interview room three. It was a hive of nervous energy, like when they’d confronted Cragen but ten times worse. Casey was sure she hadn’t seen as much paper stuck to a wall since her last minute cramming for the bar exam first time round.

Elliot was pacing around heavy-footed, frowning intensely at a sheet of papers in his hand, Liv was staring intently at what she assumed was the evidence board and Munch was practically vibrating with excitement, twirling on the spot as he took everything in. Casey wouldn’t have been surprised if his feet lifted off the floor and he went floating off into space. Clearly, they’d found something important.

“What’s so pressing that we had to skip lunch?” asked Alex, she gave a small smile to show she didn’t actually hold it against them.

“It _is_ a conspiracy!” yelled Munch, giddily waving an arm in the air and providing no other context. Casey raised an eyebrow and tilted her head, hoping someone would give them more information. A harried looking Liv crossed the room towards them, her short hair ruffled from where it was obvious she’d been running her hands through it again and again

“You were right Casey, we missed something in the laptop,”

“You mean _on_ the laptop,” Alex corrected stepping forward unconsciously as she looked past Olivia and took in the chaos of the room behind her,

“No smart-ass, I mean _in_ the laptop,” Liv gloated as Alex turned to her surprised. The detective handed the blonde the scan she’d been holding, “a receipt slip for a storage unit.”

“Tell me you didn’t go there already?” Alex narrowed her eyes as she looked at the receipt before handing it to Casey to see without even having to look to know where the redhead was stood. The mood in the room shifted palpably. Casey shifted nervously, she knew the detectives well enough to know they’d just barrelled ahead. She watched as Fin also walked towards them ,encouraging Munch to sit down before he knocked someone out.

“C’mon Alex” Elliot protested, taking big strides across the room towards her, “I thought you needed more to put these guys away?”

“What part of chain of evidence don’t you understand? Anything on the laptop is inadmissible, as is anything you find as a result of it, it’s fruit of the poisoned tree! You _know_ this.” Alex had to slide her glasses off so she could pinch the bridge of her nose. These detectives would be the death of her, that was if trying to keep her hands off Casey didn’t kill her first. Honestly how had her life gotten to this point? She shook her head to clear it and took a deep breath.

“It wasn’t _on_ the laptop Alex, it was _in_ the laptop…” Fin tried to smooth things over with his usual charm but it simply served to infuriate Alex more,

“And you know damn well that makes no difference in court!” she yelled stepping into the space between her and the male detectives, she’d never been scared to get in their faces when she needed to. Casey reached out a hand and placed it on her arm to silently calm her, the blonde letting herself fall back a half step,

“Don’t you want to know what we found?” asked Liv gingerly. She knew Alex was right but hoped revealing their discoveries would at least win some credit back with the ADA,

“We should at least hear them out Al,” said Casey gently, “there might be away to get around this,” she gave Alex a reassuring smile and the blonde’s rage seemed to melt away for a moment. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, using her free arm she waved for Olivia to continue talking and unconsciously shifted her body closer to Casey for reassurance. A move that didn’t go unnoticed by the brunette,

“When we went to the storage locker there was a box inside, and inside the box was a map. It had locations marked all over the city, each labelled with a year and a bunch of names.” She gestured towards the evidence board where a copy of the map had been blown up, “you see the one marked in red? That’s labelled this year with the names Cartelli, Dietrichson and Miller.”

“There must be something there!” Munch interjected again, leaping up out of his seat. Without looking Fin reached out and gently pushed him back onto his chair,

“We need a warrant to search the location. It’s on private property.”

“No way,” said Casey shaking her head, trying to give Alex a break, “we can’t get you a warrant on tainted evidence.” She finally slid her hand off Alex’s arm and placed it on the small of her back, hoping it was out of sight of the detectives. She could feel Alex shaking with barely suppressed anger at how reckless the detectives were being. There was a sudden crash as Elliot kicked a chair out of frustration. Casey tightened her grip on Alex with one arm to hold her back and gestured defensively with the other demanding an explanation,

“What the hell Elliot?!”

The detective was irate though, he looked haggard as he jabbed at the table and motioned to the wider room, “We have these guys, we have perfectly good evidence that will send these bastards away for life and you won’t even take a look at it?” he yelled.

“It’s inadmissible!” Casey had always gotten on well enough with Stabler but like hell was she going to let him treat her or Alex like that. Her own fiery temper rose to match his, “You know that! You couldn’t have called us before and held off? Maybe we could’ve found a legitimate way to find that storage locker…”

“Or maybe you’d never have known it existed! We’ve done our jobs, you do yours,” he stormed out before either lawyer – both already looking thunderous – could call him out, the door slammed shut behind him and a cold silence fell across the room

“I’m sorry about Elliot, he’s got a lot going on,” said Liv quietly, nervously shuffling on the spot. Her voice breaking frozen spell for everyone else,

“Don’t we all,” muttered Alex tiredly staring briefly at the ceiling as she calmed down. Casey gave her a sidelong glance that perhaps lingered a little too long, knowing full well what Alex had meant.

“Do you have anything else for us?” Casey knew it was a long shot,

“The map we found is a copy,” offered Munch clearly he had been in his element since the detectives had found the box and was bursting at the seams to share, “that means there’s an original out there somewhere, every name on that map probably has one as an insurance policy.”

“There must be hundreds of names on there,” mused Casey as she stepped closer to the board. Alex felt the loss of contact immediately but decided to simply watch Casey for a moment, her eyes jumping from locale to locale – each pin having at least two or three names associated with it. Things suddenly seemed a little more hopeful to the redhead.

“Maybe you guys should check out the other names, put some pressure on, see if anyone lets anything slip,” Alex stepped up next to Casey once again, ignoring the curious look Olivia was giving her. The blonde scanned the closest corner of the map eagerly, “focus on the unusual names first, no sense in looking for Mr. Smith…”

“Thanks Alex, I think we had worked that out for ourselves,” said Liv sardonically. She kept looking between the two ADAs with a hint of suspicion, something had changed between them, she just knew it.

“Excellent, then you should call us again when you have something we can actually use,” Alex retorted, she glanced at her watch, “I have to go or I’ll be late getting back to court. Do not, I repeat do **not** go anywhere near that map location.” She fixed every single one of them with a firm glare and made sure Olivia followed her train of thought when she gave a particularly sharp look at the door Stabler had stormed though before. Olivia reluctantly shrugged, wordlessly conveying that she’d try reign in her hothead partner.

Suitably assured her message had been heard Alex turned on her heel as if to leave, accidently on purpose having to brush past Casey as she made for the door, allowing her a totally reasonably excuse to run her hand innocuously across the redhead’s hip. Casey grinned to herself, totally reading Alex’s move. She quickly made to follow the blonde, secretly hoping for another elevator kiss before having to return to court to face Garrett, when a thought suddenly occurred to her bringing her sharply to a halt,

“Hey can I get a copy of that map? There’s something I want to check out,”

“Sure,” Liv shrugged and looked to Munch who jumped into action, rifling across his desk where he’d laid things out in such an order only he could understand until he came across copies. Alex shot Casey a quizzical look from where she was waiting at the door.

“Just a hunch,” said Casey with an infuriating smirk as she accepted the sheets from the sergeant with a nod of thanks. She stepped forward again, encouraging Alex to actually leave the room with a light touch to the small of her back. The two women quickly made their way towards the elevator and Casey’s lips magnetically found Alex’s as soon as the doors closed behind them.

“You are so hot when you’re telling the detectives off,” Casey breathed, pulling back slightly. Alex laughed,

“Unfortunately our cases go better when I don’t have to tell them off,” Casey grinned back at her sheepishly as the elevator reached its destination and the doors slid open. She glanced at her watch and let out a petulant huff,

“Well I was going to ask you to lunch but we really don’t have the time.”

“Working dinner?” suggested Alex,

“Working?” Casey gave a salacious grin,

“Yes working,” Alex laughed again, “we really do need to break these cases, especially since the detectives are running around causing havoc.”

“So… take out then?”

“First one back to the office gets to choose.”


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy fic Friday guys! When I started writing this chapter it wasn't supposed to be so Alex-centric, but it is and who doesn't love a Cabot courtroom scene? Hope you enjoy

**33.**

Alex sighed deeply, the chair next to her felt empty without Casey in it. It would’ve been fine if there was something interesting happening in court, but Rae was parading a seemingly endless line of character witnesses none of whom were worth a serious cross examination. She sighed and flicked aimlessly at the files in front of her, watching the corners of the pages as they flashed by before coming to rest in a slightly more disorganised way than before. At least if nothing interesting happened she’d be able to get back to the office first and order Casey’s favourite in for dinner, maybe she’d even have time to pick up flowers on the way. Were flowers too forward? Maybe something else would be more subtle. Because for all that she’d joked earlier about not going for subtle earlier, part of her was still worried she would scare Casey off if she came on too strong too soon.

She tried to focus on the woman in the witness box: the boys’ guidance counsellor from their last year of school. She looked pale and nervous, a little washed out, maybe the stress of the trial was getting to her or maybe she was worried what would happen to her job if she said the wrong thing. In any case she was practically gushing about the boys and it turned Alex’s stomach a little, surely she was laying it on a little thick, the jury would never believe anyone could be _that_ perfect. There was no such thing as a perfect witness, she smiled to herself as she thought that, thinking of all the people she’d put on the stand over the years.

Her mind was wandering again, back to her own turn on the stand. She thought about how gentle and patient Casey had been with her. The redhead had had every right to be hostile under the circumstances, Alex showing up from the dead had threatened both her case and her career and Casey hadn’t known Alex would be moved again. As far as she knew Alex might’ve been at the office by the end of the week clamouring for her job back. Even so, Casey had been wonderful and calm even as the tension rose, both in the courtroom and out of it. Alex wished she’d paid her more attention, or had a chance to thank her properly back then. But between the upheaval of being ripped from her new life and planted back in the city she missed so much, and of course seeing Liv again after so long, there hadn’t really been time to focus on the ADA who had replaced her, beyond determining if she seemed competent enough to win the trial. She had certainly impressed in the courtroom, Alex knew her goading of Connors had been a crucial factor along with Antonio’s testimony but Casey really deserved the credit. She’d managed the trial excellently and Alex had enjoyed watching her. God, she wished she were watching her now instead of staring at the insipid woman in the witness box as she stumbled over her words.

“There was no trouble at all with the boys, some of the more athletic kids can sometimes look down on the non-athletic ones but there was none of that with these three,” she flashed a forced smile in the direction of the defendants, “they were always polite and respectful to everybody.” Alex rolled her eyes in what she hoped was a subtle fashion and flicked open one of the files to find the boys’ school records. Rae finished up his questioning just as she found what she was looking for.

“Any questions for this witness Miss Cabot?” Damn, even Petrovsky sounded bored.

“Yes your honor,” said Alex, standing up a little too quickly and then taking time smoothing creases from the sleeves of her jacket.

“Ms Jones,” she began, pleased she’d been paying enough attention to remember the woman’s name, “you said there was never any trouble with the boys yet you seem to know them well, were they in your office often?”

“Our school has a very hands-on approach to student welfare, we meet regularly with all the kids whether they’re in trouble or not.” Ms Jones had looked to the jury and was smiling and nodding to try emphasise her point.

“And those meetings are recorded in their school records?” Alex tilted her head inquisitively even though she already knew the answer. It was always all about putting on a show.

“Yes, of course, although they were mostly just informal conversations to check how they were doing.” Alex nodded, making a show of flicking through the copies of the boys’ reports,

“They do seem very formulaic…” she mused, “so you would get the students to note down their goals for the semester, talk about their achievements and then you’d fill in one of these forms, right?” Alex walked briskly towards the witness box, placing one of Stirling Miller’s innocuous records in front of Ms Jones.

“That’s correct,” the nondescript woman gave a weak smile as she read back over the report in front of her,

“How often did you meet with them?”

“Usually twice a semester, once at the beginning and once at the end, to see if they’d met the goals they set for themselves.”

“Did you ever meet them outside of these set times?”

“Not that I can recall,” replied Ms Jones slowly,

“So, would it be unusual for a student to meet you in the middle of a semester?” Alex had crossed her arm in front of her, using it as a resting point for her other elbow as she gestured in the air.

“Objection! Relevance?” interjected Rae,

“I’m getting to it your honor,” Alex said assuredly. Petrovsky looked from one lawyer to the other before sighing,

“Overruled, but please get on with it Miss Cabot.” Alex nodded, taking the time to shoot a smug glance at Rae before repeating her question.

“No, it wouldn’t be unusual for me to meet with a student in the middle of the semester…” Ms Jones answered hesitantly, wetting her pale lips slightly, her eyes kept darting to the defendants and back, as if she knew she had to try look at Alex but was too intimidated by the forthright blonde to do so.

“So why meet with some students only twice a semester and meet others more often?” Alex had stepped back from the witness box and had taken up her usual pacing her head slightly lowered as she talked, trying to let the witness relax from being under her scrutiny,

“Well if there’s some sort of problem, an academic or disciplinary issue…”

“Is that why you met with the defendants in the middle of the autumn semester of their senior year?” Alex interrupted, stopping abruptly and pinning her with a hard stare, hoping to catch the middle-aged woman off guard.

“Well, I’m – I’m afraid I don’t remember,” she replied shakily, her gaze was now fixed staunchly on Rae.

“Maybe this will jog your memory,” said Alex, pulling a page from the file with a flourish, “people’s exhibit 45 your honor.” She carefully placed the page in front of the witness before handing a copy to Petrovsky too. “Ms Jones, do you recognise this report?”

“Yes,” her voice was barely audible, trying to shrink in on herself as her skin paled,

“Do you know who wrote it?”

“I did,” she squeaked. Her hands had taken on a noticeable tremor which shook the page till she laid it flat, “I really don’t…”

“Can you read what is written in the box marked ‘reason for meeting’?” Alex had stepped forward again trying to get the witness to focus,

“I…” she stammered and cleared her throat as she looked around the room, avoiding Alex, “I’m really not feeling too well…”

“Read the report Ms Jones,” she took another small step forward,

“Objection! She’s badgering the witness, approach your honor!” Rae interjected as the woman on the stand began a heavy coughing fit. Petrovsky scowled at both lawyers but nodded at them to approach.

“Your honor,” Rae began hurriedly, “Ms Jones is clearly too unwell to continue with questioning, and besides the material Miss Cabot is trying to introduce is unduly prejudicial.”

“Your witness opened the door when she denied meeting with the boys outside of normal circumstances,” Alex shot back, glaring at Rae as he ran his hand through his overly-coiffed hair.

“I would have to agree with Mr. Rae, this report does seem unduly prejudicial…” said Petrovsky, loosely waving the page Alex had handed her moments before.

“Thank you your honor,” said Rae, “as you can see from the report, the rape accusation was proven to be false…”

“It wasn’t ‘proven to be false’, the victim dropped the charges!” Alex protested,

“ _Alleged_ victim,” Rae corrected smugly, “clearly because the incident didn’t occur as she initially claimed…”

“That is not the matter on trial here,” said Petrovsky icily. She sighed and threw her gaze upwards before returning to stare piercingly at the two eager lawyers in front of her. “As I was saying before Mr Rae interrupted, I would be inclined to agree this is unduly prejudicial. _However_ , Miss Cabot is correct, by denying any knowledge of a meeting your witness has opened the door, so I’ll allow it.”

Rae sputtered with indignation,

“But your honor…”

“Save it Mr Rae, I’ve made my ruling,” said the judge curtly. Alex glanced at her feet and smirked to herself before taking Petrovsky’s queue to return to her line of questioning.

“So Ms Jones, can you read what’s written on the report for the jury?” The woman seemed to have become six shades paler during the interlude in questioning, but she took a shaky breath and began to read aloud,

“Reason for visit: students accused of sexual assault,” she whispered hoarsely, stifling another cough.

“I thought you said the boys were never any trouble, but they were in your office accused of sexual assault? Do you remember that now?” Alex’s tone was accusatory,

“I… yes I do remember now”

“Good. You’d be a pretty terrible guidance counsellor to forget that entirely.”

“Objection!”

“Withdrawn,” Alex took a step forward towards the witness box so she could look Ms Jones in the eye, “at the time the boys were in your office, did you take the accusation of the young woman in question seriously?”

“I don’t remember,” she muttered,

“Well perhaps you should re-read the report… say this passage here?” Alex jabbed her finger at a paragraph towards the end of the text, “could you read this aloud Miss Jones?” The older woman turned so pale she seemed to fade into the white wall behind her; she gulped audibly before coughing again,

“Scholarship girl in question is far from innocent…” she began, a look of guilt ghosting across her features, “she hangs around parties thrown by boys from good families and flirts with everyone, always dressed in a way that shows off her body. It’s hardly the boys’ fault if they got the wrong impression about what she wanted…”

“That’s enough,” said Alex coldly, her voice dripping with disgust, “you state it was hardly the boys fault if they got the wrong impression, so you’re not denying that an assault took place?”

“I don’t think it was an assault, it was just a teenage misunderstanding…”

“The ‘scholarship girl’ as you put it was fourteen! But I guess he got what she deserved right? For daring to hang around with boys who had more money than she did? For wearing ‘the wrong’ clothes?” Alex spat, her jaw clenched tight as she watched Ms Jones squirm,

“That’s not what I meant…”

“Isn’t it? It seems pretty clear cut to me that you don’t care about your students unless their parents pay your wages. You should be ashamed of the way you treated that girl…”

“Objection!”

“Sustained! Miss Cabot, control yourself!” Alex took a very deep breath and closed her eyes momentarily, speaking much more calmly even if her anger was still evident in her cold tone,

“In your opinion as a guidance counsellor, if a student gets away with bad behaviour on one occasion are they more likely to repeat that behaviour?”

“Yes, children need to see that their actions have consequences,”

“And if they don’t they’re likely to take more and more extreme actions?”

“In some cases, yes,”

“So your failure to discipline the boys for their assault on this girl,” Alex gestured again towards the report, “may have made them feel they could get away with the violent murder of Amelia Santos?”

“Objection!”

“Withdrawn,” said Alex, pausing to form another question, “Ms Jones, you’ve known the defendants for a long time, in your opinion, given what you know about their previous behaviour, are they capable of the crime they are accused of?” The woman in the witness box didn’t answer right away, instead she swayed unsteadily, opened her mouth to answer, then closed it again.

“May I remind you you’re under oath,” said Alex, taking a definitive step towards her and leaning over the edge of the box so she could stare icily into the woman’s watery eyes. Ms Jones opened her mouth again and a small gurgle came out before her entire body went limp and she fell from her chair with a thud. Alex instinctively jumped back, Rae leapt up from his seat and a court officer moved swiftly to Ms Jones’s rescue. He managed to wrangle her upright and sat her the steps of the witness box, she stirred gently as she began to regain consciousness but still looked decidedly dazed. The court officer radioed for a medic. Alex shook off her initial shock and approached Ms Jones and the officer tentatively,

“Are you alright?” she asked quietly, the confused woman didn’t respond except to try to turn her head towards Alex,

“It’s best not to crowd her right now,” said the court officer, offering Alex a chance to get away. She nodded gratefully at him and hurried back to her seat. She looked up to see Petrovsky glowering at her, as if she was personally responsible for causing a witness to collapse. Across the courtroom Rae was talking rapidly into his phone whilst the defendants shifted about in various states of discomfort. The sound of murmured conversations rose across the courtroom as the initial shock wore off, it eventually quietened as Petrovsky spoke,

“I think we’d best adjourn for the day. Miss Cabot, did you have any further questions for this witness?” she raised her eyebrows, daring Alex to suggest she wanted to continue berating Ms Jones.

“No your honor, I think the jury heard what they needed to.”

“Mr Rae, no redirect from you I trust?”

“No your honor,”

“Then we’re adjourned, enjoy your afternoon off and I’ll see you all back here at 10am tomorrow.”

Turning to the prosecution table Alex used the couple of minutes of gathering her files to calm down after the unexpected and slightly dramatic turn of events. Picking up her attaché Alex glanced at her watch and determined that Casey would be in court for at least a few hours yet. She smiled in spite of herself at the thought of being able to watch the redhead strut around the courtroom.

“Oh, and Miss Cabot?” her reverie was interrupted by Petrovsky’s voice, “please don’t drive a witness to fainting in my courtroom again.”


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Fic Friday everyone!

**34.**

Alex tried to push Ms. Jones’s collapse to the back of her mind as she slipped into the courtroom where the Moran case was being tried. She’d made sure to wait for a recess so Casey wouldn’t notice her, the last thing she wanted was to throw her off her game, so she’d snuck in with all the reporters, supporters and curious members of the public. She settled herself in a seat at the back of the room, ensuring she had the best possible view of the prosecution side, and waited for the questioning to start up again.

Currently on the stand was Garrett’s star witness, an overly enthusiastic young man who looked barley out of high school: the zipper expert himself.

“So, Mr Fry, can you explain to the court what you found when you examined the fastening on the pants Mr Moran was wearing on the day in question?” Garrett asked. The young man practically leapt out of the box and gestured excitedly towards a large screen that had been wheeled in to the courtroom. It featured a close up photo of a zipper surrounded by some suspicious looking stains. Alex felt her stomach turn and glanced disgustedly towards the defence bench where Moran seemed to have sunk into his seat, rubbing the dirty cuffs of his shirtsleeves together.

“As you can see from the photographic evidence, the zipper is faulty,” said Fry confidently, “the two halves of the top stop are misaligned,” he waved vaguely at the top of the screen.

“I’m sorry Mr Fry, I’m no expert, can you explain that in layman’s terms?” Garrett smarmed and attempted to give an ingratiatingly sympathetic look to the jury. As her head was tilted watching Garrett Alex could see as Casey rolled her eyes at his antics. She smiled to herself, it was pretty ridiculous that Garrett was treating this kid like some sort of scientific genius.

“Yeah, sure!” replied Fry, he seemed way too excited to be testifying in favour of a serial flasher, “so the top stop is the sticky out bit at the, um, top of the zipper and it holds the slider, that’s the bit that slides, in place.” He was gesticulating with his hands, trying to use his fingers to demonstrate the motion of the pieces he was describing, to Alex it looked as if he was moments away from accidently flipping everyone off. “Here you can see they don’t line up properly, which makes the fastening insecure, meaning the slider could slide down and the zipper open up at any moment.”

“Thank you,” Garrett gave a smile that was all overly bleached teeth, “that was very informative Mr Fry. So, it is your expert opinion that Mr Moran’s zipper could’ve come unfastened without any intervention on his part?” Garrett had stepped back and waved towards his client who had taken the obviously staged cue to appear as innocent as possible.

“Absolutely, it’s a pretty common manufacturing fault…”

“Thank you Mr. Fry, no further questions.” Garrett turned and shuffled heavily back towards his seat. Fry began to stand up but the judge shot him a glare,

“Sit down Mr. Fry, you haven’t been cross-examined yet,” he admonished. Alex felt her heart begin to beat faster as Casey stood up and took a few steps towards the witness box. It had not escaped Alex that Casey was wearing a particularly well fitting skirt today, showing off her toned calves as she paced across the court. Casey’s blazer clung to her in all the right places, highlighting her athletic body and Alex couldn’t help but imagine what she’d look like without it, her shirt unbuttoned as she panted beneath her. She let herself indulge in the image for a moment, feeling herself warming at the knowledge that sooner or later she’d find out exactly what was under that suit, but she eventually dragged her eyes back to the young man in the witness box.

“Mr Fry,” she began her voice low but commanding, “or can I call you Jackson?” Alex could hear the sweet smile in her voice and knew exactly how Casey was going to play this. God this was going to be excruciating.

“You can call me Jackson,” the young man squeaked. Alex almost felt sorry for him, with Casey staring him down looking as good as she did, pitching her voice just like that? The kid didn’t stand a chance,Alex could testify to that.

“Jackson, Mr Garrett called you as an expert witness, but you have no qualifications beyond a high school diploma Can you explain why you think you’re qualified to give expert testimony here today?” Casey’s voice was sweet and she tilted her head gently as she asked the question, trying to get Jackson to trust her. He eagerly leaned forward to the microphone as if he was giving a speech,

“I’ve been around zippers my whole life, it’s a family business you see: Fry’s zippers,” he explained, puffing up with pride. Casey played along, giving a look of welcome encouragement to the young man as if to say ‘well of course everyone knows of Fry’s zippers’… It seemed to spur Jackson on even more, “our zippers are 100% American made, just like they were when my great grandfather started the business. Back then it was just a small operation you understand, people used to call him ‘Z. Fry, the zipper guy’. Of course his real name was Zachariah, like my dad and my older brother…”

“That’s very interesting Jackson, so did you go to work for the family business straight out of high school?” Casey took another step towards him and leant gently on the corner of the witness box. Alex could’ve sworn she saw Jackson’s pupils double in size as he took in Casey’s beauty up close. She smirked to herself, Casey was really something; intuitive and intelligent as well as absolutely stunning. A familiar heat began to rise in her cheeks as she saw Casey flexing her long fingers on the ledge of the witness box, her mind was wandering again, imagining just what those fingers could do…

“Sure! I’ve already made head of quality control,” Jackson’s voice ruined her reverie,

“How old are you?” Casey was trying to sound impressed,

“Twenty three” replied Jackson with confidence. It was almost painful watching as Casey toyed with him, _almost._

“I guess you must be an expert, to have such an important job so young”, Casey smiled, taking a few steps away from the witness box and beginning to pace. Alex found herself mesmerised by the redhead’s movement and wondered how she’d ever managed to work alongside her without being totally distracted. “So can you explain to me how a zipper fault like this happens?” Casey gestured towards the screen and Alex was once again reminded of the stains on Moran’s pants. That did a pretty good job of calming down her growing desire.

“Well there’s several ways a top stop like that can become misaligned, but it’s often the result of a manufacturing defect,” Jackson was very quick with his response, clearly keen to impress Casey. Alex glanced at the defence bench, Garrett looked sick as a dog, he’d apparently also realised his star witness was putty in Casey’s hands. It seemed Alex wasn’t the only one who couldn’t resist Casey’s charms.

“Is the zipper misalignment of the pants in question the result of a manufacturing defect?” Casey asked seeking absolute clarification with a generous smile. Jackson almost tripped over himself, a feat whilst sat down, as he appeared to study the image closely again for a moment before nodding,

“Yes, it seems to be,”

“Well that seems odd to me Jackson. How old would you say that zipper is?” Casey’s exaggerated frown fooled nobody, apart from maybe Mr Fry.

“There’s a lot of wear and tear,” he mused, raising his hand to stroke his chin as if he might finally find some stubble there.

“So you’d say it’s been used a lot?”

“Objection! Leading the witness,” Garrett protested as he finally tried to curb Casey’s progress,

“Withdrawn,” said Casey hurriedly, she wetted her lips and batted her eyes at Jackson, “in your expert opinion, how much use would you say this zipper has seen?”

“A lot,” said Jackson, he gave a nervous glance towards Garrett, but his eyes came straight back to Casey. She was standing closer to him now and Alex knew she was about to pounce.

“So, if this zipper is broken because of a manufacturing fault, how come it has seen so much use?” She turned on the spot and walked towards the jury for a moment so that they all had the chance to mull over the question she’d posed. With a shrug and a light shake of her head she faced Mr Fry again, making sure any response he gave her would seem as if he was talking to the jury directly, “Surely if it came out of the factory wrong, the defendant would’ve noticed the fault and returned the pants?”

“Objection! Calls for speculation,” Garret huffed at the effort of standing, Alex just hoped he wouldn’t keel over and faint like Ms Jones had.

“Sustained, rephrase Miss Novak.” Alex winced a little. Judge Blake was fair but didn’t stand for too much showboating, she knew Casey was probably toeing the line of her good graces.

“It’s okay I’ll answer,” piped up Jackson,

“You’re not allowed to answer Mr Fry,” droned Blake, thinking that that was the matter resolved, ,

“But I know the answer!” he protested, “your honor,” he added quietly as she turned her withering look on him in surprise,

“Jackson,” Casey interrupted him before he could do something to cause a mistrial, “please explain to me how the damage to this zipper is a result of a manufacturing fault as you’ve claimed.”

“Well, not all manufacturing faults show up straight away. Sometimes the design of a zipper can result in weakness at certain points and it causes the device to fail under stress.”

 _Just like you’re about to_ thought Alex wryly. She adored getting to see Casey in full flow like this, particularly as she could now fully appreciate her skills – and appearance, she _was_ only human – without the twinges of guilt or sadness from the unresolved confusion over what they were to each other.

“Under stress? What kind of stress?” Casey asked pointedly, no longer feigning interest in zippers she stalked forward a step or two, almost predatorily. Alex knew her courtroom gaze was boring into the kid on the stand and Jackson did indeed now look like a deer caught in headlights,

“Well the most common cause of zipper failure would be if it’s yanked too hard. One hard yank can render a cheaply made zipper completely ineffective.” He swallowed to try clear the squeak his voice had taken on as Casey stared him down, and then tried to regain some of his earlier ‘bravado’, “Of course, Fry Zippers are high quality so a problem like this must be due to a problem in the manufacturing process weakening the top stopper…”

“But the zipper would still need to have been yanked for the fault to appear?” Casey took another few steps forward again, toying with Jackson’s focus as she verbally ensnared him.

“Yes,” Jackson admitted nodding quickly, “but it’s not a common fault, you’d have to give it one hell of a tug, and repeatedly to produce this level of wear. We run rigorous quality control at Fry’s, I’ve implemented a new series of stress testing…”

“So, just to be clear Mr Fry,” Casey interrupted him before he lost the jury’s attention in his enthusiasm, “the main reason that _this_ zipper is broken,” Alex admired her nimbleness as Casey quickly crossed to the screen and pointed at the gross pants once more, “is because someone repeatedly yanked it? Hard?”

The young man’s head fell as he realised Garrett was glaring at him, the defendant Moran shiftily avoiding looking at anyone,

“Yes,” Fry muttered slightly dejectedly, realising Casey had played him like a fiddle.

With a pointed look to the jury Casey then looked up to Judge Blake and gave a confident nod, “no further questions for this witness your honor.”

“Thank you Mr Fry, you may step down. We’ll take another five minute recess.”

Alex wasted no time in slipping out of the courtroom before Casey could see her. The redhead’s display of courtroom confidence had left her feeling hot and bothered, but also incredibly proud of the woman she was dating. Was it too early to say girlfriend? She mused the question over as she waited for the elevator to empty so she could make her way out the building. Alex figured she was probably in her rights to ask about that – being her girlfriend, god even the thought just made her happier – and maybe their work date tonight could be the right time, especially now she found herself with a couple of free hours to set up something a little bit more special…


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone and happy fic Friday! As next Friday is Christmas day I'll be trying to post again Thursday night.

**35.**

Casey practically skipped back to the office, buoyed by her thorough dismantling of the defence’s star witness, and of course the thought of her date with Alex. She couldn’t believe her luck right now. As she approached the door of the office which she now thought of as _theirs_ she could hear soft music playing, it sounded like jazz. She smiled to herself, Alex sometimes had music on when she worked, it was usually a sign she was chilled out. Taking a deep breath and trying to contain the stupid grin she knew was plastered across her face, she reached out and gently clicked the door open. The sight that greeted her made her heart melt. Alex sat at her desk, head buried in a file, golden lamplight twisting in her blonde hair. On the floor in front of the desk was a blanket, some cushions from the couch, and a _lot_ of food.

“Is all this for me?” Casey asked to announce her presence, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. Alex looked up from her work, apparently startled.

“Well I was hoping you’d share some of it with me,” Alex smirked, standing up from behind the desk and crossing the room in a few short steps. She carefully avoided the picnic spread on the floor and pulled a very willing Casey into her arms.

“I’ll consider it, given you’ve gone to so much trouble,” Casey teased, smiling as she leant forward to steal a kiss from the blonde. The moment their lips met Casey let out a soft contented sigh, she deepened the kiss, gently running her tongue along Alex’s bottom lip. The blonde responded with a groan, parting her lips to let Casey’s tongue in and tightening her hold on her body. They stayed like that for a few moments, the kiss becoming slightly more heated as Casey’s hands reached up to tangle in Alex’s hair. The blonde slid her hands down Casey’s body, appreciating her curves and the fit of her suit, she cupped the redhead’s ass, eliciting a filthy moan from her. Casey responded further by untangling a hand from the blonde’s soft locks and trailing it down the side of her body, ending up toying with the hem of her shirt. As her fingers worked their way under the expensive fabric and smoothed over the warm skin of Alex’s stomach she realised she should probably stop herself.

“What did I do to deserve all this?” she asked as she pulled back. Her voice was low and husky from the kiss, green eyes searching Alex’s flushed face.

“Well,” said Alex slowly, raising her hand to gently run her fingertips across Casey’s lips, “I thought you were brilliant in court today.” Casey’s stomach did a backflip even as she tightened her arms around Alex’s waist,

“You were watching me?” she asked, half-excited and half-nervous,

“It sounds creepy when you say it like that,” Alex laughed, mirth sparkling in her eyes, “my day in court finished early,” she added with a shrug. Casey’s face narrowed into a frown,

“Is everything ok with the Cartelli case?”

“Sure. Just Petrovsky now has it in for me more than ever since I made an old lady faint on the stand.” Alex sighed as she spoke, pulling back from Casey but interlinking their fingers. She gently guided the other woman to sit with her on the blanket and they collapsed together on the cushions, Casey’s arm automatically encircling Alex’s waist, keeping her close as they both kicked off their shoes. 

“You made an old lady faint on the stand?!” Casey gave a beautiful clear laugh,

“She wasn’t _that_ old, more middle-aged,” Alex smiled, running her fingers down Casey’s arm and enjoying how the redhead’s breath hitched, she twisted slightly so her long legs were arched over Casey’s lap, enjoying watching Casey’s eyes flick hungrily along them, “besides, she was a misogynist.”

“That’s alright then,” Casey looked back to Alex’s face purely so she could roll her eyes at her, but then leaned in to kiss Alex softly again, “you’ll have to tell me all about it later,” she murmured against her lips.

“There’s not so much to tell,” Alex replied, resting her forehead against Casey’s, “but it can’t have gone down well with the jury.” Her gaze dropped and she let out a small sigh, her frustration clear. Casey moved back slightly and used her fingers to gently raise Alex’s chin,

“Hey look at me, you’re amazing, we’re gonna get these guys,” she gazed hard at Alex, losing herself for a moment in her deep blue eyes.

“We are, especially if you cross-examine them like you did today,” Casey glanced away blushing, embarrassed by such an unabashed compliment. Alex gently took her hand and pressed her lips to her fingertips, “I really mean it Casey, you were something else, that poor kid didn’t stand a chance.” Casey laughed at that, still blushing,

“Grease weasel _really_ dropped the ball calling that kid as a witness.”

“He’s usually better than that,” Alex mused as she braced her elbow on the back of the cushions to prop her head up as she considered the situation, “maybe all of New York grew a conscience overnight and decided not to testify on behalf of some pervert’s bullshit defence and Jackson was the only one left.” The way she pronounced ‘Jackson’ was eerily similar to how Casey had said it in the courtroom and the redhead found herself blushing even harder, knowing she was being teased.

“So, this is quite the spread,” Casey gestured to the picnic spread out in front of them, intent on changing the subject quickly before Alex could intensify her teasing, “when do I get to eat?” She slowly dragged her eyes up and down Alex’s body once more, giving her a look that she would definitely not use in a courtroom,

“Right now if you like,” Alex was surprised how quickly the tables had turned and she felt the heat from earlier coming back in full force, “there’s plates somewhere,” she added, swinging her legs off Casey and hurriedly getting to her feet to rifle through a bag near her desk, desperate to distract herself. They were supposed to be taking things slow after all.

***

“Do you think I can convince Moran to take a plea?” Casey asked. They’d spent the past few hours working on their cases and eating a lot of fancy food, in between the kissing and the teasing of course.

“After seeing you in court today I think you can convince anyone of anything,” Alex smiled, looking over from her desk to where Casey was settled in her usual spot on the couch..

“Thank you,” Casey took a moment to enjoy the compliment and bask in Alex’s gaze, “but Garrett will be a lot harder to convince than some wet behind the ears ‘zipper expert’.”

“Hey you do him a disservice, he’s been around zippers his whole life…” said Alex with mock sincerity. Casey snorted with laughter,

“Seriously, what was Garrett thinking? It’s almost as if he’s trying to tank the case,”

“All the better for you,” Alex smirked,

“Still, it’s weird…”

“Casey, seriously don’t worry about it. He probably didn’t realise ‘Jackson’ would be so keen to impress you. I’m guessing now you’ve destroyed his expert witness he’ll accept a deal. But I don’t get why you’d offer him one? You’ve got this case won already.”

“I’ve got a feeling there’s something more going on, I’ve been looking through the TTF’s financial report and there’s two sets of payments going out to Garret and Rae.”

“Huh?” Alex sounded intrigued as she stood up and paced towards Casey. Casey boldly looked her up and down as she approached.

“Yeah,” Casey’s voice dropped, she had to clear her throat as she tried to refocus her wandering mind, “one set of payments corresponds to the Cartelli trial, which is odd enough because those families can definitely afford their own lawyers. The second has no reference but the dates correspond to the Moran case,” she passed Alex the report and the blonde pursed her lips as she scanned the page in question.

“So you think there’s some connection?” Alex gestured with her hand between the two highlighted payments. She sat on the arm of the couch as she watched Casey trying to pull the connections together.

“I don’t know,” Casey sighed dramatically and clasped her hands in front of her as she looked up at Alex tiredly, “but I figure if I offer Moran a deal he might turn out to know more than he’s letting on. There must be something going on, why else would the TTF be paying for the defence of some creep with no money?”

“Was his name on the map?” Alex asked, her brain whirring. Casey shook her head, reaching into her bag to bring out the map from all her other paperwork so Alex could look over it too,

“No, that’s what I wanted to check out with the copy Munch gave me. He has to have some connection to the foundation though. Maybe he was one of the kids they ‘helped’ with their community projects?”

“It’ll be quicker to ask him than to trawl through all those records.”

“If they even have records,” Casey sighed and ran a hand through her hair, catching sight of the time on her watch. God time flew when she was with Alex. She yawned in spite of herself.

“You getting tired?”

“I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t tired,” Casey smiled gently, she reached out and gently pulled till Alex slid down onto the couch seat with her. One of Alex’s hands began to slide up her thigh whilst the other came to settle at the base of her neck, pulling the redhead in to yet another passionate kiss.

“I could do this for hours,” Casey smiled against Alex’s lips, running the tip of her nose across Alex’s before delving back in with her tongue and exploring the other woman’s mouth. Alex whimpered softly, attempting to ground herself by tangling a hand in Casey’s hair yet again.

“I thought you were tired,” Alex teased as she rested their foreheads together to catch her breath,

“I am!” Casey protested before her features softened and she held one of Alex’s hands her thumb circling the back of it soothingly, “but not as tired as you must be – sleeping on you own?” she gazed at Alex, green eyes etched with concern. Alex blushed slightly and glanced away, toying with the hem of Casey’s shirt with her free hand,

“I do sleep better with you there,” she whispered quietly her eyes coyly flashing up to Casey’s for a moment,

“And now we know why,” Casey smiled softly, “do you think… I mean I know we’re taking things slow but…” she began to stutter, her cheeks pinking as she tried to figure out how to word what she was trying to ask,

“Yes,” said Alex, without hesitation saving Casey from her floundering, “you can stay over, if that’s what you would want?” Casey’s face broke into a relieved grin,

“Thank you, I promise we can just sleep…”

“Casey, it’s okay”, Alex brought her hand up to cup Casey’s cheek and pulled her into a gentle kiss, adoring how she could feel the redhead melt against her, “besides I’m going to need some help getting all this leftover food home...”

“Why _did_ you buy so much food?” Casey laughed, tangling her fingers in Alex’s.

“I don’t know… like you seemed to eat a lot when we were living together.”

“Alex I ate a normal amount of meals,” with mock exasperation Casey poked at Alex’s ribs, the blonde swatting at her searching hands, “It’s you who doesn’t eat enough!”

“Well,” Alex smirked at having Casey in such a playful mood plus she’d successfully lured Casey into her trap, “guess you’ll have to cook me breakfast in the morning, you know, to make sure I eat.”


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well its been a bit of a scramble to get it done, but here's an early Christmas present for you all! (Or late-December gift for those of you who may not celebrate Christmas)

**36.**

“You really don’t have any food in,” Casey mused as she stacked picnic leftovers in Alex’s cavernous refrigerator. A tingle ran up her spine as she felt Alex step in close behind her, circling her arms round her waist and resting her chin on her shoulder so she could also see inside the empty fridge.

“I’ve not been spending a lot of time here,” Alex shrugged lightly and raised her head, instead choosing to sweep Casey’s hair to the side, exposing her neck. The blonde nuzzled in and placed a gentle kiss on Casey’s smooth skin, sighing against her. Casey shivered at the feeling of Alex’s warm breath,

“Alex,” she murmured, slowly closing the refrigerator door but refusing to turn around just yet, “what are you doing?” she kept her tone playful, not wanting Alex to stop.

“Kissing you,” Alex whispered against her, stroking one hand over her hip and pressing her body even closer. She pressed another kiss slightly lower down on Casey’s neck, catching her soft skin between her lips and sucking slightly. Casey let out a breathy moan and arched back into Alex, tilting her head back to give the blonde easier access to the rest of her. She felt Alex smirk against her skin as she kissed down her neck and then back up, stopping just below Casey’s ear.

“There’s something I wanted to ask you actually,” the blonde purred, her voice low and sultry. Her warm breath tickled Casey’s ear and she enjoyed how it made the redhead shiver. She liked it less when she felt Casey stiffen and pull away slightly, “it’s not a bad thing!” she added hurriedly, concerned by the other woman’s reaction, “at least I hope you won’t think it’s a bad thing…”

Alex was nervous now. Surely she was being ridiculous, Casey _loved_ her, but maybe putting a label on this was going too fast…

“What is it Al?” Casey whispered, finally turning in Alex’s arms so their lips were almost touching. Alex gazed into her green eyes, and hated herself for the worry she could see in them. She leaned forward and kissed Casey gently, slowly, pulling her close. Casey responded by running her hand lightly up and down Alex’s arm, melting into the blonde’s touch despite her anxiety.

“I wanted to know if I could call you my girlfriend?” Alex said simply, letting the words hang in the air, just as she’d done with her initial declaration of love. Watching with delight, she saw a beautiful smile break across Casey’s face and light up her eyes.

“Of _course_ you can,” Casey giggled in sheer joy, “there’s one condition though,” she said, her face suddenly becoming serious.

“What’s that?” asked Alex, a note of concern creeping into her voice as she glanced away, “I understand that we probably don’t want to go running around the office making out or anything, and we should probably talk about how we’re gonna explain it to Liv…” her nervous rambling was interrupted by another laugh from Casey, who brought her hands up to Alex’s cheeks and guided her gaze back towards her eyes,

“The condition is that I can also call you my girlfriend,” she said, “… it was a joke Alex.” Casey smiled reassuringly and Alex’s whole face flushed at her mistake. Casey could feel the warmth of her cheeks under the palm of her hands, pretty sure that the blonde would have tried to duck and hide were it not for Casey’s light hold on her.

“I guess I’d be ok with that,” she mumbled, trying to feign some nonchalant bravado. Casey giggled lightly again and stroked her hands back down Alex’s body, eventually catching her fingers in her own. She raised them to her lips and kissed Alex’s knuckles gently.

“Good, I like the idea of you being my girlfriend. Is that what the whole picnic was for? So you could ask me?” Alex’s blush, which hadn’t quite subsided from before, intensified; but she was determined to regain some control of the situation.

“Maybe,” she said with a characteristic smirk, “or maybe I just wanted to spoil you, to romance you,” she leaned in as she spoke, catching Casey with a hot, open-mouthed kiss. The redhead moaned and responded hungrily, releasing Alex’s hands so that she could grab at her hips and pull her closer. Alex obliged by pushing her hips forward into Casey’s and snaked a hand up the front of her shirt. She enjoyed the feeling of Casey’s breath hitching, how the surprise and the pleasure caused her abs to tighten and her to gasp into the kiss. She loved knowing she could get such a response from the gorgeous redhead with just the smallest touch. Eventually Casey pulled back, needing to take in some air,

“Did you mean romance me, or _seduce_ me?” she panted, quirking an eyebrow,

“They’re not the same thing?” Alex feigned ignorance, leaning back into to kiss Casey with a dopey grin on her face. Casey lifted her hands and placed them against her shoulders, promptly stopping her forward momentum,

“They’re not actually,” a spark of mischief danced in her green eyes as she deliberately flicked her gaze down to Alex’s lips and back up again, not missing how Alex swallowed hard at the gesture. Casey took a deep breath, “but I really wouldn’t mind if you seduced me,” she kept her gaze steady, letting Alex know she wasn’t playing anymore. She meant what she said, she _wanted_ Alex, needed her even. Alex gazed back, momentarily speechless. She licked her lips, aware that her mouth suddenly felt very dry indeed,

“Are you sure?” she breathed. Casey bit her lower lip and nodded, sliding her hands down Alex’s body again, toying with the buttons on the front of her shirt. Alex grinned as she somehow closed in even more, practically pinning Casey against the refrigerator, “even though this would not be taking it slow?”

“It would not be taking it slow… but I think we’ve both waited long enough and I don’t want to wait anymore. I _can’t_ wait anymore, you’re my girlfriend,” a smile spread across her face as she said it and Alex felt an answering trill of happiness at the title run through her, “and I _want_ you.”

Alex couldn’t ignore the heat that shot straight to her core at the sound of those words in Casey’s low husky voice. For a moment all she could do was gaze at the redhead, who looked back at her, lips slightly swollen from the intensity of the earlier kiss, pupils blown. She felt she might melt under the heat of Casey’s gaze.

She swallowed thickly, her mouth even drier than before, and nodded. Casey leaned in to her, bringing her lips to her ear and whispered, “I want to show you just how much I love you, I want you to feel how much I want to be with you.” Her words elicited a delicious shiver from Alex, who let out a small whimper as Casey said everything she’d wanted to hear, before trying to regain some control of herself,

“Then show me,” said the blonde, using the same commanding voice that could turn a courtroom. Casey felt her knees go weak and pulled back slightly, startled by the intensity of her own arousal.

“Bedroom,” she managed to say, bumping her hips against Alex’s enjoying the bolt of pleasure that the contact elicited. Alex laughed lightly, pleasantly surprised by Casey’s eagerness. She’d been prepared to wait as long as it took for Casey to feel ready and comfortable to take this step and she hadn’t quite expected it to happen tonight. She took the other woman by the hand and began to walk backwards towards the bedroom, her movement hindered by the passionate kisses they were suddenly sharing. They were almost at their destination when Alex bumped into a side table which was inconveniently placed by her bedroom door,

“What idiot put that there?” she grumbled, letting go of Casey momentarily to rub her sore hip. The redhead chuckled lightly at her,

“I’ll kiss it better for you if you’d like?” Alex felt a wave of desire rise to match her annoyance at the interruption and pain, all too ready to take Casey up on the offer when the redhead couldn’t help but tease her, “I can’t believe you’re so distracted by the thought of sleeping with me that you’ve forgotten the layout of your own apartment.” Alex swatted lightly at her arm and fixed her with a stare over the top of her glasses, even as she continued to pull Casey into her bedroom. She only stopped when she felt the bed against the back of her calves and sat backwards as demurely as she could, bracing her arms behind her as she looked up at a slightly overawed looking Casey,

“You are very distracting Casey,” she murmured seductively as she curled her knees to the side, beckoning Casey towards her with a slow confident smile.

Casey gulped, she could feel heat building in her lower abdomen already and became determined to show Alex just how distracting she could be. Catching her lower lip between her teeth, she shot Alex her sultriest look and began to unbutton her shirt, one torturously slow button at a time. Raising her gaze to meet Alex’s again, she noticed that the blonde’s mouth was hanging open slightly, eyes following the path of Casey’s deft fingers as she exposed more and more of her skin and the black cotton bra she was wearing beneath her shirt.

“See something you like?” Casey smirked. Alex grinned wolfishly at her,

“Oh, definitely my darling.” It was impossible for Casey to hide her reaction to the pet name, the same one that filled her dreams of Alex, including the first dream she’d had in this very apartment. She couldn’t stop herself from glancing momentarily in the direction of the guest room as she flushed crimson and her breathing sped up. Alex’s eyes narrowed slightly, “You ok?” she asked.

“More than ok,” Casey replied, grinning back, not quite ready to share the details of her dream with Alex, “I’ll be better once I’m out of these clothes though.” She undid the final button on her shirt and shrugged it off her shoulders, leaving it in a heap on the floor. Then, she lowered her hands towards the button on her pants,

“Let me,” Alex’s voice interrupted her movement and Casey’s arms fell to her sides. Without thinking she closed the small distance that remained between them and watched mesmerised as Alex knelt up and her long, skilful fingers undid first the button and then the zipper of her pants, helping them fall to the floor with a light tug. Casey stepped out of them and placed a knee either side of where Alex sat on the bed, straddling the blonde’s lap and pulling her in for a fierce kiss. Alex’s body pressed into her as her fingers travelled down the exposed skin of Casey’s back, determined to feel every inch of her. Casey broke the kiss as she felt Alex toying with the clasp on her bra,

“Yes please,” she whispered breathily, burrowing her face in Alex’s neck and kissing it tenderly. With practiced ease Alex unclasped the bra and helped Casey wriggle out of it completely, leaving her bare except for her panties. For a moment both women stilled, Alex’s hands resting lightly on Casey’s lower back, taking in the sight in front of her that she’d spent so long dreaming about.

“You are absolutely gorgeous,” she murmured, licking her lips lightly and letting her eyes rove slowly all over Casey’s exposed body.

Sliding one arm further round Casey’s back to hold her steady, she brought her other hand up to trail across Casey’s collarbone and down between her breasts, touching her with an almost impossible reverence. Alex ducked her head, her mouth magnetically following the path set by her fingers. The feeling of the blonde’s lips pressing and sucking against her skin caused Casey to gasp and moan out Alex’s name. She felt the blonde smirk against her and glance up at her with those piercing blue eyes before taking one of her tits in her hand and gently guiding it towards her mouth. She wrapped her warm, pink lips around Casey’s nipple and began to gently suck the sensitive peak.

With the knowledge that Alex’s arm was supporting her, Casey let her body arch into the touch, rocking her hips against Alex, trying to get some sort of relief for the feeling in her core that was building very, very quickly. The movement of Casey’s hips caused Alex to release her nipple with a gasp. The rush of air against her sensitive skin drew a whimper from Casey who could already feel the wetness pooling between her legs. If she was honest, she was almost embarrassed at being quite so turned on when Alex had hardly even touched her, but then she’d been waiting for Alex to touch her for so long, literally dreaming of the blonde’s long fingers and skilful mouth. Besides, every touch seemed to send sparks shooting straight to her core.

“You’re wearing too many clothes,” Casey panted, far too aroused to bother dancing around the subject. Alex quirked an eyebrow, lips still glistening.

“Would you like to take them off me?” Alex leaned back, taking her weight on her elbows and causing Casey to lean forward, placing her hands either side of Alex so she was practically on top of her.

“There is literally nothing else I want to do more,” replied Casey with a grin, placing a heated kiss on Alex’s lips, leaning into the blonde until her back was pressed to the bed. Letting herself just indulge in the feeling of Alex beneath her, Casey parted her lips with her tongue, taking time to explore her mouth, enjoying the small sighs and squirms she was eliciting. It seemed the tables had turned slightly. Eventually, she sat herself back up, leaving Alex reclined on the bed, and set her hands to work undoing the buttons on her shirt.

“I can probably think of something you want to do more,” teased Alex, lifting a hand to trail up Casey’s inner thigh, stopping as she reached the edge of her panties.

“Oh my god Alex,” Casey breathed, fumbling with the last of her shirt buttons as she shifted her hips to try and get Alex to touch her where she needed. The sensation of Alex’s fingertips on so close to where she desperately wanted nearly overwhelmed Casey and she had to close her eyes and rest her head on Alex’s chest before looking back up to see a small smirk and absolute reverence on her face,

“Is it ok if I touch you?” Alex’s eyes held Casey’s. The redhead could only nod, her eyes fluttering shut again in anticipation. To her absolute horror though she squeaked as Alex deftly pulled her down onto the bed and rolled them over so she was on top. Casey gazed up at her gasping,

“You are surprisingly strong,”

“It’s all about the technique darling,” Alex laughed. Casey’s couldn’t help as her hips bucked against the blonde, that damn pet name again.

Alex began to trace circles up Casey’s inner thighs, this time not stopping at the edge of her panties. With a feather light touch she rubbed over Casey’s centre, enjoying how she could feel the cotton of her underwear becoming increasingly damp. She gently applied more and more pressure until she had Casey writhing beneath her, begging for more. Sitting up, Alex quickly shimmied out of her shirt and reached around and unclasped her own bra with a practiced ease, letting it fall from her body without any self-consciousness. Casey’s eyes roamed up and down her body, dark with lust, drinking in the sight of Alex Cabot undressing for her.

Her eyes stopped for a moment when she caught sight of the scar on Alex’s shoulder. Even though she had known it would be there seeing it, seeing how close the world had gotten to being without this angel in front of her, was striking in its own way.

Gently, she reached up and caressed it with her fingertips, before pushing herself up from the bed to place the lightest of kisses on the mark. Alex felt her heart flutter and she reached down and softly guided Casey’s face towards her own, trying to say with a kiss what she couldn’t say with words. The feel of Alex’s warm soft bare skin pressing against her only increased Casey’s arousal and she found herself reaching for the fastening of Alex’s pants. Without really having to look, the two of them fumbled around until Alex was only wearing a pair of red lace panties.

“Fuck,” Casey swore and a spike of arousal shot through the blonde. The redhead looked as though she might devour her on the spot. Shaking her head lightly, Casey gave a small chuckle, “if I’d have known you were so dressed up for me I’d have worn something nicer for our first time.” Alex quirked an eyebrow, already imagining Casey in a whole array of lingerie… they had plenty of time for that in the future though and the reality in front of her was by far more enticing than whatever fantasy her lust-fuelled brain was trying to conjure,

“I appreciate the thought, but it’s not like they’ll be staying on much longer,” she looked pointedly at Casey’s panties and ran a finger under the waistband, watching goose bumps appear on her lower abdomen. Casey’s breath hitched, she held Alex’s gaze and caught her lower lip seductively between her teeth. Slowly, she inched her underwear down and manoeuvred out of them, tossing them off the bed.

“They were getting kinda wet anyway,” she smirked, laying back against the pillows and stretching out contentedly to make sure Alex could see all of her. Alex took it all in, Casey’s long, toned legs, the hint of abs at her stomach, her strong, athletic arms…

“You really are beautiful,” Alex whispered, causing a blush to rise to Casey’s cheeks. She shifted her weight forward so she was lying on top of Casey, the redhead letting out a loud groan as one of Alex’s thighs rubbed tantalisingly against her pussy,

“And really wet for me,” Alex added, licking her lips.

Casey was concerned she might come there and then, with the gorgeous blonde on top of her, skin pressed against skin and that absolutely _sinful_ look in her eyes… Suddenly she felt Alex’s finger swiping through her folds, collecting her wetness and bringing it up to circle her clit. For a moment everything else seemed irrelevant. There was nothing but Alex’s expert fingers touching her, exploring her and causing jolts of absolute pleasure to burst through her body. Even though Alex was keeping her touches light, Casey was sure she’d never felt anything like it. Bracing herself with one arm next to Casey’s head, Alex lowered her body further to kiss her lover, delighting in the taste of her mouth and the caresses of her tongue. Casey kissed her back wantonly, seeking something to ground her as her pleasure built and built. She caught Alex’s lip between her teeth and bit down gently making Alex’s hips thrust forward. Her thigh pressed her fingers harder against Casey’s centre and caused her to cry out, breaking the kiss.

“Is this ok?” Alex checked, already way more breathless than she’d anticipated, desperate to make Casey feel as good as she possibly could. Casey raised a hand and cupped Alex’s cheek,

“This is amazing, but I want you inside of me.”

Alex gulped and leaned down to kiss her again before sliding one finger inside of her. She gave a low throaty moan at the feeling of how silky and warm Casey was, how obvious it was that she wanted her. Slowly, she began to find a rhythm, exploring different motions and paying attention to how the redhead’s hips bucked and breath hitched.

“I can’t wait to know every inch of your body,” she whispered against the shell of Casey’s ear, “I want to find out everything you like and use it to make you feel more incredible than you’ve ever felt in your life.” Casey let out a small whine at the suggestion and canted her hips up again to show her approval. Grinning to herself at how _needy_ she had already made Casey, Alex smoothly added a second finger and, ever the quick study, curled against the spot she’d worked out drove Casey wild. Casey gratefully but desperately rocked her hips to the rhythm that Alex set, feeling the pressure building in her body, revelling in Alex’s ministrations.

“Fuck, Alex, baby, there… oh my god A-lex!” The blonde swiped her thumb across Casey’s clit and watched with delight as the redhead’s hips shot up off the bed and her body tensed up, those delicious abs that had teased her for so long tensing and quivering right in front of her eyes. Alex continued to fuck her through her orgasm, although it was hard to concentrate when the sight of Casey coming was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

Eventually the redhead came down and lay back panting, pulling Alex down so she was on top of her and wrapping her arms around her tightly,

“I’m right here baby,” Alex hummed against her neck gently kissing and lightly sucking on the point of skin that her lips touched,

“I just need a minute,” said Casey, slightly dazed, her voice even lower and huskier than normal after being so vocal. She was still tensing occasionally as an aftershock ran through her, “just a minute and then I’m going to make you feel so incredible Alex.” The blonde gave a lightly amused chuckle even as Casey lightly ran her fingers down Alex’s back, already memorising the bumps of her spine and dimples at the top of her ass,

“Oh Casey darling, I’m not even nearly finished with you yet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm aware this ends a bit abruptly but it was already super long so this is kind of a TBC ending! Next chapter may be up next week but I also might need a break for family time, so it'll be the week after if not.


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Made it just in time for fic Friday (in my time zone anyway!) hope you all enjoy <3




Alex allowed Casey a few more moments of respite, relishing the feeling of their bodies pressed tightly together as the redhead explored her skin with her fingertips. She could only stay still for so long though, she meant what she said when she told Casey she wasn’t finished with her. Pressing her hips into Casey’s and feeling her girlfriend respond beneath her, Alex began to kiss her again. Slowly, she made her way down Casey’s body, taking her time to lick and suck at her skin, noting which spots elicited the most pleasing response. God she could keep kissing this woman forever. When she reached Casey’s hips she paused, looking up for confirmation that it was okay to keep kissing,

“I really want to taste you, is that ok?” Alex asked huskily, appreciating the shiver that ran down Casey’s body in response. The other woman unconsciously licked her lips and gave an enthusiastic nod.

Alex gave her a characteristic Cabot smirk and continued with her ministrations, humming against Casey’s skin as she kissed one hip bone and then the other. Gently, she took Casey’s soft skin between her teeth and gave it a nip, releasing it quickly and laving the sore spot with her tongue. Casey’s hips bucked against her and she gave a small cry of pleasure. Alex committed the moment to memory, then repeated the technique on Casey’s other hip. Carefully, she continued kissing and nipping her way down Casey’s thigh, enjoying how the redhead squirmed, tensing the toned muscle that was just _there_ for her to keep working her mouth along .

Alex paused for a moment and lifted her head again, wanting to drink in the sight of Casey lying naked on the bed before her. For a moment none of it seemed real, she couldn’t quite believe the other woman was there, completely bared to her, trusting her, _wanting_ her. The thought sent heat shooting through her. She reached up, taking one of Casey’s hands in her own and tangling their fingers together, the motion made Casey open her eyes and catch Alex’s gaze with a soft breathless grin. It was reassurance enough for Alex to continue – dipping her head again, she began to kiss back up Casey’s inner thigh, taking her time but intensifying her kisses, nibbling a little harder, licking a little longer. She could hear how Casey’s breathing had sped up at all the attention. As Alex got closer, and Casey’s anticipation of having Alex’s mouth on her clit grew to almost unbearable levels, she couldn’t help but tighten her grip on Alex’s hand.

Tentatively, Alex pressed a kiss to Casey’s lower lips. The redhead gave a low moan that Alex felt rather than heard and it only served to spur the blonde on. Alex kissed Casey again, closer to her centre this time, then she allowed her tongue to slip between her lips and licked a single broad stroke. Casey whined, her free hand immediately shot to the crown of Alex’s head as her legs already began to shake slightly. That was all the encouragement Alex needed and she sped up, increasing the pressure of her tongue. She experimented briefly with different motions, savouring the taste of Casey and how slick and hot she was against her tongue. Casey’s hips rocked in time with the rhythm Alex’s mouth was setting and it didn’t take long before she was coming again, one hand gripping Alex’s, the other tangled in her blonde hair. Alex lapped up as much of her cum as she could, moaning against her at the taste she’d spent so long imagining. Eventually, Casey’s breathing began to slow again and her grip relaxed. She let go of Alex’s hair a little sheepishly but kept hold of her hand, pulling on it to indicate she wanted Alex to move up the bed. More than happy to oblige Alex rose and Casey instantly pulled her into a bruising kiss, moaning into her mouth at the taste of herself on Alex’s lips.

“I taste good on you,” she murmured between breathless kisses. She pushed her thigh up so it was resting between Alex’s legs, revelling in how hot and wet she was even through her underwear, “but what I really want to know is how good you taste.” At her words she felt Alex getting wetter and with a low keening moan the blonde began to move her hips, grinding against Casey’s thigh, trying to get some relief from the arousal that threatened to overtake her. She pushed herself up, so she was sitting astride Casey’s thigh, gazing down at her. The sight took Casey’s breath away again,

“Let me baby,” Casey whispered, shuffling down the bed and slipping a finger between her thigh and Alex’s panties, stroking lightly.

“I think these need to come off,” Alex muttered, torn between not wanting to break contact with Casey’s fingers and needing _more_. Casey nodded hurriedly as Alex pushed herself up and wriggled out of the offending garment. She dropped back down on Casey almost comically fast and the redhead chuckled,

“Someone’s keen,” she said quirking an eyebrow whilst stroking Alex’s folds lightly.

“Of course I’m keen, do you have any idea how long I’ve been fantasizing about you?” she moaned. Casey gulped and stared at her in disbelief, her fingers stilling. It hadn’t occurred to her that Alex might be fantasizing about her too. Her mind wandered back to the dream she’d had in the guestroom, the amount of willpower it had taken not to touch herself whilst thinking of Alex.

“You’ve been fantasizing about me?” a stupid grin appeared on her flushed face,

“I’ve been in love with you for months,” Alex spoke plainly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, not even pausing as she sought to re-establish the earlier rhythm of her hips as she pressed against Casey.

“I love you too,” said Casey. Her words brought a pause between them and gave them a moment to take stock, “you really are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” she continued, lifting her free hand to cup Alex’s face and pull her down towards her for a kiss. The kiss was fierce and needy, but unhurried as they both simply indulged in the other

Casey focused on exploring her girlfriend, sliding her tongue across her lips, directing the kiss with almost imperceptible motions of her wrist. Her other hand began moving again and Alex broke the kiss, letting out a sigh of pleasure and pulling her body back upright, although she placed one of her hands on Casey’s stomach to help her balance, the feel of her soft bare skin under her fingertips sending electric sparks down her spine. Seeing Alex’s chest heave as her breathing rate increased Casey sped up her motions, mirroring how Alex had touched her; drawing a series of delicious noises from the blonde. Her fingers slid easily through Alex’s folds as she drew her wetness from her entrance to her clit, circling around the sensitive spot. Alex writhed against her as her clit received more and more attention, her hips moving faster and faster. Casey was awestruck by the sight of a naked Alex Cabot coming undone on top of her, because of her, it didn’t quite seem real that she could have such an effect on the blonde. Alex whimpered loudly and Casey took pity on her, sliding a single finger inside of her, watching her mouth form into a delicate ‘o’ as she gasped.

“Casey,” Alex breathed, “Casey Casey Casey,”

“I’m right here darling, you want some more?” Alex nodded vigorously, bracing herself with both of her hands on Casey’s hips as the redhead slipped another finger inside of her. She curled gently, hitting Alex’s sweet spot, “I love you,” she breathlessly told her again.

“I love you too,” Alex was struggling to get her words out, rocking her hips against Casey, moaning loudly every time her fingers contacted her sweet spot. She was already so wound up it didn’t take long to come, clenching round Casey’s fingers, her head thrown back exposing the long length of her neck which Casey immediately wanted to start kissing and tasting once more.

“You’re so fucking beautiful Alex,” Casey said, as the blonde finally stilled and lowered herself back on top of her, “so beautiful,” she repeated, pressing a light kiss to her forehead. Alex nuzzled into her, her forehead resting against Casey’s cheek, her arm tightly wrapped around her waist.

Suddenly, she felt an unusual warmth against her face,

“Casey?” she said, wriggling away slightly, “are you crying?” The redhead glanced away in embarrassment,

“You won’t believe me if I say no will you?” her voice was too thick for her to try deny it, she knew someone astute as Alex would pick up on it instantly,

“No I won’t,” Alex confirmed, gently wiping a tear away and kissing the slightly salty trail it left behind, “are you ok? Did I do something wrong?”

“No! No, that was perfect, _you’re_ perfect… it’s just,” she sighed lightly, reaching out to stroke a stray hair from Alex’s face, looking into her eyes and trying to ease the concern and confusion she saw there, “It’s just… it’s a really long time since I made love to anyone.”

For a moment, Alex didn’t know what to say, she just gazed at the beautiful woman before her, tears streaming from her gorgeous green eyes as she unknowingly burrowed even deeper into the blonde’s heart.

“Well you certainly don’t seem out of practice,” she said finally, with a smile that was mischievous but not unkind. Casey snorted with gentle laughter,

“Neither do you!” she fell back with a contented sigh onto the plethora of pillows which always littered Alex’s bed, “where did you learn to do that thing with your tongue?”

“You really don’t want to know,” the blonde smirked and settled along Casey’s side, trailing her fingers over her stomach just to see Casey’s muscles twitch under her touch. She stilled for a moment as she chuckled lightly, “I can’t say I’ve ever made anyone cry in bed before though, not because they loved me so much anyway.”

Twisting her head to take in where Alex was resting against her shoulder Casey couldn’t help but tease, “You’ve made them cry for other reasons?”

“Once or twice out of sheer sexual frustration… but I’m not sure if you’re into that yet…” Alex had risen up to her elbows as she levelled Casey with a practically devilish smirk. Casey laughed loudly as she beckoned Alex to lie back down with her,

“Tonight is _not_ the night to find out,”

“Maybe it is,” Alex smirked, sitting up once again. Casey swatted at her but failed to notice what should have been a familiar gleam in her eyes. Without further warning Alex’s hands shot out, fingers heading straight for Casey’s ticklish spot. Instinctively squealing, Casey tried to roll away, batting at Alex’s searching hands. Blindly she grabbed for a pillow and swung it towards the blonde, to fend her off, quickly gaining the upper hand, although Alex was also getting breathless from laughing too much. Trying to catch the pillow Casey was using to – admittedly gently – whack her with, Alex fell back onto the bed, the captured cushion held high above her head, leaving Casey suddenly on top of her in a familiarly dominant position.

“Okay, okay, I give in,” Alex chuckled breathlessly, trying to not moan at how the motion caused their chests to rub together, even as her legs wrapped around Casey’s to hold her there. After a moment of gazing hungrily into Alex’s eyes Casey chucked the pillow to one side but quickly returned her hands to Alex’s, pinning them firmly above her head as the blonde’s breath hitched knowingly.

“I should’ve just kissed you last time we were in this position,” she breathed, moving her lips closer to Alex’s,

“You should’ve,” Alex agreed, part of her wanted to ask why Casey hadn’t given in and kissed her, if she’d been feeling the same this whole time. She shook her head lightly her eyes falling closed, “I think I know now why you didn’t.”

“I didn’t think you wanted me, or at least I didn’t think you wanted me for more than one night,” Casey admitted softly as she traced across Alex’s face with her eyes and the tip of her nose,

“I definitely want more nights like this,” replied Alex somewhat smugly, opening her eyes just long enough to grin and wink at Casey as she flexed her wrists just enough against the redhead’s hold to indicate her meaning. Casey smiled down at her, the heat of her gaze causing Alex’s insides to melt once more,

“I guess I can make it up to you now then, I still haven’t gotten to taste you” she said, leaning down to capture Alex in a heated kiss that seemed to promise never to end.

*******

Casey groaned as the light from her phone lit up the darkness. The screen blinked at her - 5:30am and Liv was calling. She wriggled towards the sound, trying to untangle herself from Alex’s arms from where they were clinging around her. The blonde let out a sleepy grumble but didn’t seem to wake as Casey fumbled with the phone and answered it, hoping her voice wasn’t too hoarse from the endless night spent exploring Alex’s body.

“Novak,” she mumbled throatily,

“Casey?” Liv replied, after a short pause,

“Yeah?” Casey tried to rub some of the sleep from her eyes as she waited for the detective to get to the point of her call,

“It’s Liv,”

“I know,” it was hard for Casey to try hide her annoyance whilst keeping her voice low enough that it wouldn’t wake the sleeping blonde.

“Why do you have Alex’s phone?”


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Sorry this is so late getting uploaded, I've got so much work on this term with my PhD and lockdown is also sending my mental health off a cliff. Writing fic has had to take a bit of a back seat so there might be longer between updates now, but rest assured I do know where the fic is going and fully intend to finish it. Thanks for sticking with me :)

**38.**

Casey missed a beat as she pulled back to glance at the phone in her hands, it was indeed Alex’s. _Fuck_.

“What? Oh, I um… guess we must have fallen asleep working late on the case,”

“Uh-huh?” Liv sounded decidedly sceptical,

“Do you want me to wake her up?” Casey asked, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. Next to her Alex stirred and tightened an arm around her waist,

“That depends, how late did you keep her up?” despite it being some ungodly hour of the morning, Casey could hear the smirk in Liv’s voice. She was just glad the detective couldn’t see the blush that was creeping up her body.

“I didn’t!” Casey protested, perhaps a little too loudly as Alex shifted, lifting her head a little,

“Casey?” she murmured, “what’s going on sweetheart?” the redhead couldn’t help but smile at the slightly grumpy expression on her girlfriend’s face,

“It’s Liv, I answered your phone by mistake, we must have fallen asleep whilst we were working last night,” Casey said, looking directly at Alex, trying to get her up to speed with the excuse she’d concocted.

“Oh, guess we must’ve been working really hard,” said Alex, trying to sound sincere as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. As she did so the covers slid down, revealing her bare upper body. Casey’s mouth went very dry, remembering the feeling of Alex’s skin against hers as they’d made love for hours the night before. Alex gave a smirk as she caught the hungry look in Casey’s eyes,

“Later,” she mouthed, gesturing for Casey to pass her the phone. The redhead obliged without thinking about it.

“Morning Liv, I assume you have a good reason for calling so early?” Alex was doing her best to seem composed, but there was a distinctive husk to her voice that Liv recognised,

“I do, sorry to interrupt your night of passion but we’ve got an emergency.” Alex opened her mouth and closed it again in indignation.

“It wasn’t a night of passion!” she lied, “what’s the emergency?”

“Oh please Alex,” Liv laughed, “I know what your voice sounds like the morning after.” The blonde found herself blushing furiously, sitting back against her numerous pillows with a huff.

“The emergency?” she prompted, trying to turn the conversation in a different direction,

“Yeah, we need a warrant. Child abduction, we think it’s the biological father who just got out of prison but he’s not living at the address he gave his P.O.”

“What’s the warrant for?” Alex asked, automatically rolling out of bed and clicking the light on, prompting a disgruntled moan from Casey who tried to burrow under her pillow to escape the sudden brightness. Alex rolled her eyes at her girlfriend’s antics and received a dazzling smile in return from where Casey continued to peek out at her. The sight of Casey lying naked in her bed was making Alex even more reluctant to get dressed and go bother a judge at this time in the morning. She found herself fighting the urge to climb back into bed and pick up where they’d left off the night before.

“We think he’s been staying with his brother,” Liv explained, as Alex resignedly started flicking through her closet for something to wear, “and there might be a clue to where he’s headed with the kid on the brother’s property, but we need a warrant to search it.”

“‘Might be a clue’ is pretty vague Liv,” Alex pulled on a silky robe and headed to the kitchen to put a pot of coffee on, she’d definitely need to shower before getting dressed for the day,

“I know, but can we get a warrant for evidence that he’s been living there? That’s a parole violation at least.”

“You want me to wake a judge for a parole violation?”

“Alex, there’s an eight year old boy out there being held captive by a father he doesn’t remember.”

“I know that, but no judge will sign off on a fishing expedition,” Alex sighed in frustration, this was not how she’d imagined the morning after her first time with Casey going, “send me over the evidence you’ve got that he planned the abduction from his brother’s house and I’ll try to find a sympathetic judge, I know a couple with grandkids that age.”

“Thanks Al, I’ll send it right away. Let me know as soon as you get that warrant.” Liv hung up and Alex threw her head back in frustration. Casey padded into the kitchen, wearing only her underwear and an oversized t-shirt she’d never quite moved out of Alex’s apartment. For a moment Alex’s frustration melted away, Casey looked breath-taking.

“You’re so beautiful,” Alex said quietly, moving towards the redhead and wrapping her up in her arms. Casey pressed a soft kiss to her lips, not daring to deepen it any given that Alex had to be out the door as soon as possible.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” replied the redhead, pulling back gently “so I know I said I’d make you breakfast, but it seems like you have to get to work in a hurry.”

“You could always make me something quick whilst I’m in the shower?”

“I could always join you in the shower?” Casey grinned cheekily, pressing her hips into Alex. The blonde gave a wry chuckle,

“Why does one of us always suggest that when there really isn’t time?”

“Because we work so much we literally have no time ever?” Casey laughed,

“That is certainly true,” Alex smiled, taking a moment to just look at the woman in front of her. Eventually Casey broke the comfortable silence,

“Go shower, I’ll make you some toast and eggs,”

“You do spoil me,” Alex said, pulling at the hem of Casey’s t-shirt and catching her in another brief kiss,

“Maybe if you’re lucky I’ll spoil you even more later. Now go shower.”

***

Casey tried not to rub her eyes as the elevator sped upwards. Only an hour after Alex had left the apartment Liv had called again, asking her to come to the precinct before court. Luckily she’d had time to pick up a coffee on the way. Taking a long sip of the warm, milky liquid she steeled herself for the coming encounter, glad that she’d left at least one spare suit at Alex’s and wouldn’t be caught wearing yesterday’s clothes. Still, she found herself wondering what was so important and hoped it was good news.

The squad room was unusually busy for such an early morning, but everyone seemed to be either heading home after a long night or chugging down coffee in an attempt to get going for the day. Casey scanned the room and spotted Liv sat at her desk, she headed over quickly, a feeling of uncertainty weighing heavy in her stomach.

“Liv?” she said quietly, causing the detective to look up from the paperwork she was sifting through. She flashed Casey a knowing grin that caused a blush to creep up her face.

“Good morning counsellor, I trust you slept well?” she smirked. Casey shot her a warning glare, she may have still been basking in the afterglow of her night with Alex but she was far too tired for this shit.

“You know I didn’t since you’re the one that woke me up at an unreasonably early hour. What did you want to see me about?” Casey hoped to deflect any conversation on the subject of Alex, she wasn’t quite sure how much she was ready to share with Liv.

“Munch has found something that might help with the Moran case,”

“That case is almost a certain win already,”

“I know, but Alex said you were interested in making a deal in return for information. Well, Munch has identified what information he might be able to give you.” Casey supressed the desire to ask why Alex had been talking about her and what she had said,

“I’ll go talk to him now,” she said, glancing towards Munch, “by the way, the warrant you called about, did you find the kid?” Liv nodded,

“Locals picked them up at a farm belonging to some relative of the perp’s old cellmate. The warrant helped, all we had to do was open the guy’s computer at his brother’s place. Clearly he’s not too tech savvy, he’d downloaded the route off google maps and forgotten to wipe his browser history.”

“Is the boy ok?” Casey asked. Liv leaned back in her chair and sighed,

“Physically yeah, his mother has a lot of explaining to do though, she’d told him his dad was dead.” Casey grimaced,

“That’s gonna be a tough conversation, thanks for letting me know. I’m going to go see what Munch has got.” Casey turned to leave Liv’s desk but stopped as she heard the detective’s voice again,

“Oh by the way Casey?” Liv waved her back over towards the desk and leaned in a little, speaking in a quiet whisper, “you might want to do another button up on your shirt,” Liv tapped her own neck to indicate what she meant. Casey’s hand flew to cover the hickey she hadn’t realised was visible,

“Shit!”

“Fell asleep doing work huh?” Liv smirked, “if that’s going to keep happening you might want to invest in some high necked sweaters.” Casey hurriedly fiddled with the button on her shirt, pulling the collar tighter around her neck,

“Is that better?” she asked, ignoring Liv’s smug remarks,

“Yeah, I always used to keep a polo neck in my locker if that helps,” the detective was enjoying this way too much.

“I’m going to talk to Munch,” Casey announced sternly, hoping she didn’t look as thoroughly embarrassed as she felt.

“See you later Novak.”

Casey tried to regain some composure as she crossed the room,

“Hey Munch, Liv says you’ve got something for me?” The grey-haired detective smiled at her,

“I do indeed,” his eyes sparkled and Casey found herself hoping it wouldn’t be another crazy conspiracy theory, “so I was going through the names on that map like you asked and I found something interesting. He pushed an enlarged copy of the map which was taking up most of his desk towards Casey and jabbed a finger on a point he’d highlighted with a red rectangle,

“See this?” he asked, “I started looking for uncommon names, but I noticed the boys’ names were on there more than once.” Casey studied the map carefully and read the names Munch had pointed out,

“This group has Miller in it, but it can’t possibly be Stirling, the year doesn’t match up,”

“That’s right, in fact Miller appears five times on the map, this date corresponds to when Miller senior was at school,”

“His father?”

“Exactly, and his father before him judging by the dates, plus a brother and what I think may be a cousin.”

“Murder makes a lovely family tradition,” muttered Casey sarcastically. Munch nodded resignedly,

“What’s particularly interesting about Miller’s dad however, is the names he’s listed with.” Casey looked again at the names, there was nothing particularly unusual about any of them, except,

“Anderson?” Wow. Casey couldn’t believe she’s missed that one.

“Exactly, the date also matches up with our esteemed sergeant.”

“But it’s a common enough name, and the other name –” she paused to look again at the map, “– Jones, doesn’t have anything to do with the investigation. Three common names are hardly damning proof.”

“I figured you’d say that,” Munch leaned back confidently in his seat, “so I did some digging, now elite New York private schools might be very concerned with students’ privacy, but they also like to brag. So I’ve been looking through back catalogues of the glossy school magazine and I came across one Joseph Jones. He’s a nerdy looking kid but something about him seemed familiar…”

“Get to the point Munch,”

“Have some patience Casey, you’re spoiling all the fun!” Casey shot him with a look that confirmed she was not in the mood to be messed about. Munch sighed, “I guess Liv wasn’t kidding when she warned me you might be grumpy this morning.”

“Liv said what?” Casey shot a panicked glance back towards Liv’s desk, but the brunette detective had her head buried in paperwork again. Munch ignored her and continued his monologue,

“So I ran him through the system and he has a sealed juvenile record, but I was able to get some basic information on him. For example ‘Jones’ is the name of his stepfather. His mother’s surname, which I assume he’s been going by for many years, is Moran.”

Casey felt a chill run through her, she’d had a feeling there was something she was missing about Moran since the start of the trial, but to find out he was probably mixed up in this elitist murder cult... he didn’t exactly seem to have benefitted from it the way some others had. At least this explained why the TTF was splashing out on grease weasel Garrett for his defence.

“How the hell did we miss this?” she breathed, her mind going a million miles an hour,

“There wasn’t exactly reason to believe the two cases were connected until now,” said Munch softly, realising Casey was being more critical of herself than the squad,

“Ugh I’ve just been so distracted lately,” the redhead shook her head lightly, and Munch raised an eyebrow, “never mind,” Casey added, realising she probably shouldn’t have chastised herself out loud. “I’d noticed the financial irregularities with the TTF payments to Garrett and Rae, I just didn’t make the connection,” she explained.

“Well now you know,” said Munch, “and what’s more, I’m betting the only reason the group is still taking care of a lowlife like Moran is that he has something that could bring them down: his own copy of the map.” Realisation dawned over Casey’s face,

“Of course! If I can get the map from Moran, if I’m careful about it, it won’t be tainted anymore and everything we find from it will be admissible… we’ll be able to win the Cartelli case at least. Munch this is huge, there are some powerful people involved in this.”

“I know, but these guys don’t really trust each other, you can bet the evidence that map leads to is some pretty solid insurance. Something like this doesn’t survive so long under the radar unless everyone involved has something to lose.” Casey nodded,

“You’re right,” she glanced at her watch, “I need to go call Garrett, and get another coffee, it’s time to make a deal.”


	39. Chapter 39

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with me through the longer breaks between chapters, I'm still really enjoying writing (and reading people's responses) when I have the time. So this is my latest offering, hope you enjoy!

**39.**

Grease weasel Garrett sat across the table glaring hard at Casey. It was bad enough she’d destroyed his key witness on the stand, but now after all the effort of a trial she was offering a suspiciously good deal. He didn’t trust it. All the same, when she’d called him that morning he knew he’d have to hear her out. So, he’d asked the judge for a continuance, poured coffee down Moran’s throat to sober him up and dragged him to the precinct.

Casey drummed her fingers on the interview room table, a satisfied smirk on her face that wasn’t entirely due to the break in the case. Next to her stood Liv, arms crossed. Any vestige of the light-hearted teasing she’d inflicted on Casey earlier that morning had gone, now the detective was all business.

“Are you alright Mr Moran? You seem a little woozy,” asked Casey, narrowing her eyes at Garrett.

“He’s fine,” interjected Garrett,

“I’m sure he can speak for himself,” Liv replied quickly, her voice low and commanding.

“I’m fine,” mumbled Moran, picking at the skin around his fingernails which he’d bitten right down.

“Do you understand the terms of the deal?” Casey asked, placing her elbows on the table and leaning forward. Moran nodded slowly,

“I only do five years in jail, not in gen pop and I go on the register,” he said resignedly,

“And?” Casey prompted

“And I give you the information you asked for. I get two weeks off my sentence for every conviction it leads to,” he parroted the terms, still weighing up his options.

“As your lawyer, I have to advise you not to take this deal,” said Garrett, running a hand through his greasy hair, “firstly, because it’s in my contract that I won’t be able to represent you anymore if you do anything to bring the Titus Thule Foundation into disrepute. Secondly, because you lose your right to appeal if you plead guilty. Thirdly, you could see no reduction at all in your sentence if Ms Novak’s incompetence means there are no convictions…”

“My incompetence?” Casey was incredulous. She slapped a hand on the table, making the two men jump much to Olivia’s amusement even as Casey pinned Garret with an accusatory motion of her hand, “The whole way you’ve handled Mr Moran’s defence has been a trainwreck, and advising him against this deal? I’ve half a mind to report you to the Bar…”

“What?” Garrett spluttered, thrusting himself forwards in his chair causing the legs to scream as they scraped against the concrete floor, “I can assure you I have defended my client to the best of my abilities…”

“Oh come on! We both know what will happen to him if he goes to jail without protection,” Liv chimed in. Both lawyers turned their heads to look at Moran who’d gone a sickly shade of pale, sweat stains starting to appear on his shirt.

“That will be a blessing compared to what _they_ will do to him if he gives you that map,” Garrett whispered hoarsely, avoiding looking Casey in the eye, “not to mention what they might do to me.”

“It’s always all about you, isn’t it Garrett?” Casey spat. She really did despise the man.

“That’s why I have property in the Hamptons and you probably live in a third floor walk-up,” he retorted. Casey swallowed the desire to call him a parasitic bastard, if he’d resorted to personal insults it meant he was rattled.

“So you admit you’re acting in your own best interests, rather than those of your client?” Casey asked with a forced calmness, pointedly glancing at the red light on the audio recorder that was taping the whole interaction. It was Garrett’s turn to pale, he knew when he’d been caught out.

“What do you want Casey?” he sighed, refusing to look at his increasingly anxious and fidgeting client.

“I want you to do what’s best for your client and advise him to take the deal.”

“I can’t do that,” Garret replied, “it would violate his fifth amendment rights. That map incriminates him.” Casey glanced at Liv, that was certainly a legal sticking point they’d have to negotiate.

“Fine. If he gives us the map as discussed and agrees to testify against his co-conspirators Anderson and Miller we can offer him immunity for whatever heinous crime it implicates him in.”

“You think he’ll live long enough to testify?” Garrett scoffed, stabbing his podgy finger onto the table top, “We want witness protection.”

“Now you sound like you’re acting in the best interests of your client,” Casey replied, “but protective custody in prison is all I’m willing to offer.”

“Then you won’t get a deal,”

“With all due respect Colin, that’s not your decision.” Again, all eyes in the room turned towards Moran, he looked like he was about to throw up. He turned to Garrett and looked at him with bloodshot eyes,

“If I go to jail without protection, I might as well be dead. The game is up, they’ll get us all one way or another, they know now,” he said quietly before turning to the women with a quick nod, “Ms. Novak, I’d like to take the deal.”

***

“I heard some celebration is in order,” Casey looked up from her desk to see the gorgeous form of Alex Cabot leaning seductively against the doorframe.

“Alex!” she beamed, hurriedly getting up from her chair and shuffling around her desk. Grinning in turn Alex closed the door behind her and crossed the room towards her, wrapping Casey happily into her arms.

“Congratulations on the Moran conviction,” she smiled, planting a quick kiss on Casey’s lips, “and on getting that map to be admissible, Liv says you were incredible.” Casey blushed as she settled her hands on Alex’s shoulders, her fingers running over the top of the collar of her shirt,

“Garrett sort of shot himself in the foot,” she said dismissively, although the smirk Alex gave her meant she knew her attempt at modesty wasn’t going to stand up to scrutiny. Distracting herself she ran her hands down Alex’s arms, loving how right they felt holding her, “anyway we don’t know how useful the evidence the map leads to will be, it all feels like a bit of a gamble at the moment.”

“You didn’t hear?” asked Alex, pulling back slightly. Casey leant back on her desk, giving Alex a quizzical look and shake of her head. The tall blonde found herself inexplicably drawn back into Casey’s space, she stepped up and reached out to smooth some of Casey’s hair back in place as she spoke quietly,

“Cragen sent teams out already. They’ve dug up a toolbox full of bloody overalls at the location marked with Cartelli’s name. The lab is analysing them now.”

“Fuck, really? I’ve been so caught up filing paperwork on the deal…” without fully taking her eyes off Alex Casey gestured behind them to where her desk was strewn with paper. Alex laughed gently at the familiar sight,

“So I see. You know I looked for you in my office first,” The admission brought a light chuckle from Casey whose hand reached up to play with Alex’s fingers, drawing her ever so slightly closer,

“I needed the desk…” Casey explained with a smile, “but you’re right, it does sort of feel like _our_ office now. Maybe I’m just most at home wherever you are.”

“Your home could be with me you know,” said Alex, her voice wobbling slightly. Holding Casey’s gaze for a moment so the redhead got her meaning she swallowed down her nervousness and gently cupped Casey’s cheek , pulling her in for another kiss. This one was longer, sweeter.

“That’s hardly conventional,” Casey teased breathlessly, failing to keep the huge smile off her face and she gazed into Alex’s eyes to reassure her. She raised her hand and placed it on Alex’s where it still rested on her cheek. Gently, she moved it down towards her mouth, turning it slightly so she could place a kiss on the blonde’s palm. “Do you really mean it?”

“Yes,” Alex replied, it was more a breath than a word, but spoke volumes.

“My lease is up at the end of the month.” Casey tried to hide her extreme joy with some practical nonchalance

“You don’t need to think about it?”

“Not for a second longer. I mean we were already living together before…” her shrug made Alex laugh, and she crossed her arms and fixed her girlfriend with a pointed look, softened by the gentle grin tugging at the corner of her lips,

“Before you pulled your head out of your ass and realised how you felt about me?”

“Something like that,” Casey laughed, “I never even moved all my stuff out, I guess maybe part of me knew.” Alex closed the last distance between them, bracing one hand next to where Casey was leaning to she could lightly trail a finger down to Casey’s chest, leaving it hovering above her heart.

“I guess maybe it did.” Casey gave into the surge of emotion that was building and surrendered to the magnetic pull that tugged her towards Alex, catching the blonde’s lips in a fierce kiss. Alex let out a moan and pressed into her, Casey shuffled back slightly before steadying slightly, her legs wrapping lightly around Alex’s waist. The emboldened the blonde now had both of her hands on either side of Casey, leaning in further and somehow avoided dislodging the rest of the contents of the desk. The weight of Alex on top of her did something to Casey, god did it do something to her. She found her hips beginning to move against Alex, her hands reaching up around her neck, pulling her closer. Casey could hear the blood pounding in her ears as Alex’s tongue entered her mouth and began to explore, she responded in kind, nipping Alex’s lower lip gently.

“Fuck,” Alex panted, breaking the kiss for air and pulling back. Her pupils were blown as she gazed at Casey through a haze of lust, “fuck,” she repeated. Casey gave a throaty chuckle, she could feel herself trembling,

“Yeah, let’s do that,” she smirked. Alex shot her a mock glare over the top of her glasses, as she retreated slightly, Casey matching her movements so she didn’t look quite so… debauched.

“Not here Novak,”

“Home?” Casey asked, eyes shining. Alex blinked slowly, hardly able to believe her luck.

“Yes,” she gave a heavy sigh though and pinched the bridge of her nose in a move that Casey now recognised so well, and still found entirely adorable, “it might have to wait until later this evening though, I have to file paperwork for the new evidence so it can be declared to the defence and Petrovsky will give us a continuance.” Casey pulled a face knowing Alex’s workload exceeded her own,

“That sucks,” she said simply,

“Tell me about it,” said Alex unable to resist trailing her hand across Casey’s shoulder and down her arm, “my gorgeous girlfriend wants nothing more than to drag me to bed and I’m stuck filing paperwork.”

“I can relate,” Casey smiled, “I still have to finish up this stuff on the deal, it shouldn’t take too long though. So I guess I’ll see you at home tonight?”

“I guess you will,” Alex turned and scooped up her purse that Casey hadn’t even been conscious of her dropping earlier, so distracted by how gorgeous the blonde had looked. Alex fumbled around for a moment, somehow still achieving a classiness to her actions that defied logic, before finally sliding a key off her keyring, “this was a spare, but it’s yours now,” she said, handing it to Casey. The redhead looked at it for a moment before reverently closing her fingers around it.

“Thank you Alex,” She lightly cupped the still dazed blonde’s cheek and placed a quick peck on her lips, “I love you.” The answering grin which broke across Alex’s face at the sweet words and action made Casey chuckle, quickly using the tip of her thumb to tidy up the line of Alex’s lipstick where she _may_ have smudged it, “Now go, that paperwork isn’t going to do itself and like you said,” the wink she gave caused heat to settle deep in Alex, “we have some celebrating to do later.”


End file.
